


Hybrid: Aurora Edition

by LuxBeacon (Number13teen), SairaCrystaline



Series: Hybrid Edition [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, LGBTQ Themes, Long, M/M, Pokemon, Trans Female Character, more tags will be added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:48:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 73,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29036478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Number13teen/pseuds/LuxBeacon, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SairaCrystaline/pseuds/SairaCrystaline
Summary: An adventure in the world of Pokemon that follows a trans girl who goes through quite a lot in her life. Definitely more of a serious story, but not without joy and levity. Also takes QUITE a divergence from a lot of things that happen in the games, but more through building upon loose ends and concepts within them than adding too too much that's crazy. Oh, and plenty of gay later on. Lots and lots of gay.
Series: Hybrid Edition [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2108454
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

_ Regiearth, such a curious world. Filled with so many places, so many people. And one that will be going through quite a number of changes in the near future. Our story begins in Sinnoh, a land of balance. The new is not ignored, the old is not forgotten. Unless something is lost to time itself, you can find it in Sinnoh. And even then, there are those who pursue knowledge in order to uncover such mysteries. However. Not all knowledge should be found. And the methods to uncover knowledge can easily outweigh the boons it may bring. But, as they say, hindsight is twenty-twenty. You cannot change the past, only the future. And with every shadow, there must be a light. This story follows one such soul who follows that philosophy quite adamantly. Their name… Well, I can’t spoil all the surprises quite yet, can I? But nonetheless, welcome to the journey they undergo through their life. Welcome, to Hybrid: Aurora Edition. _

**_~~Snowpoint, Year 8520, Damidar, Luxem 9th~~_ **

“Aurora, be back soon! It’ll be dark soon and it’s close to suppertime.”   
“I will! It isn’t far I’ll be back right quick!”  _ I don’t wanna go far, I just wanna show Ivane the cool place I found! And then tomorrow I can bring sis and Mom and Ma with me and they can all see how cool it is! _

We walked down the snow-covered cobblestone streets together, keeping Ivane’s Pokeball close to my chest.  _ Don’t wanna lose that, that’d be  _ **_really_ ** _ bad. _ The snow isn’t falling today anymore, but there's still a bunch of frost capped lanterns glowing orange against the snow and filling the air with the soft scent of pine smoke. The paths were as pretty as always; warm and lighter red from being carved Heat Rocks, like mom told me. She also told me what all the designs are supposed to mean, and they’re a bunch of Pokemon and stuff! It’s always fun looking and trying to find which pattern is below you.

Ivane was walking close to me, since there wasn’t really any reason for her to be in a ball and it’s nice walking with her. I’m pretty sure she likes listening to me talk about stuff, since she always smiles when I do. And she’s a special Ninetales that can be both hot and cold! I think ma said something about her having two different Ninetales parents…? I dunno, but it’s cool! She’s got gold fur mostly but the ends of her ears and tails and her chest fluff thingy all are more white and cloudy!

There were a bunch of people out on the streets, some with bags and stuff, others with berries in their mouths and Ivane made sure I had a path. She’s bigger and more colorful after all. Some waved and I waved back before I turned to Ivane, grinning ear to ear. “I can’t wait for you to see the place, it’s not that far and it’s really pretty! I dunno what it is really, but it’s all curly and shines like ice does and it’s got frozen berries or something hanging off of it! A bunch of Swinub and Vulpix and Snorunt and… uh…”  _ What’re they called again? The small blue ones that’re like Teddiursa but not-  _ “Cubchoo! There’s Cubchoo there too.”   
Ivane gave me a warm look, saying gently {Tales.} My grin just got wider, even though I didn’t know what she was saying.  _ Why  _ **_is_ ** _ that anyway? Pokemon know what we say, so why can’t we know what they say? It’s stupid. _

On the way through we passed this really nice place called Jingle Bread. It had these really awesome cookies shaped like bells with leaves on top. They were  _ amazing _ . And it was run by a really nice family! Ms. Ginger leaned out the door and waved to me. “Hullo Aurora, Ivane! Where are you two off to?”

I grinned and waved back to her “Just a place I found! Maybe I can take you soon?”

She chuckled. “I’d like that. You want some cookies before you go?”

“Nah, maybe later. I’ll be back quick!”

“I’ll get some ready for you all then.” She turned back inside, and I kept waving until she was away. She’s a nice lady.  _ I can’t wait to take some cookies home! _   
The hard stone transitioned abruptly to powdery snow as we turned off the path into the forest. Paths can’t go everywhere after all, and it’d be boring if you had to always stay on them. There’s so much cool stuff that you can’t find if you stay on the path the whole time. It’s so much funner to find it yourself! Like that bunch of Snover walking through the trees. I waved to them, and they waved back. Snover are nice. They almost blend in with the trees unless you really know what you’re looking for. They’re always kind so long as you’re not a big mean idiot and attack them, and they’ll help you back home if you’re lost. Abomasnow are like that, but really big and strong. They’re like huge Christmas trees if you touch them, but they’re  _ really _ cold. I stayed with Ivane while we were walking by them, since I don’t wanna lose her.

{Pix!} I looked over and there was this little Vulpix trying to get to… something on the tree? I followed their line of sight and  _ oh _ they want a berry that’s up there. I crouched to get on their level and smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll get it for you.” All I gotta do is climb the tree. The very icy, cold tree. Well the berry’s not gonna pick itself, is it? I tried to grip it, but my hands just slid off immediately.  _ Uh… there’s gotta be a way to get it for them, right? Maybe-  _

My hand started glowing purple, leaving me to flail confused when I started floating. _What’s-!_ _Oh, Ivane._ She was picking me up, her eyes glowing softly as she guided me up to the berry. _Right, gotta pick it!_ I grabbed it, and she lowered me back down so I could give it to the Vulpix. They were standing on their hind legs, wanting to get it faster. _I guess they’re really hungry… I kinda wish I had some more stuff to give them._ They ate it quickly out of my hands, gave me a happy {Vulpix!} and ran off. I looked at Ivane, a little worried about them. “Were they still hungry? Should we find them and get some more food for them or…?”  
She shook her head. {Tales, tales nine.} I… hope that means it’s okay? She brushed up against me and looked to me for where we were going next, so I guess that means it’s okay? _I still wish I could understand Pokemon…_

The trees around Snowpoint always look so  _ huge _ . They’re pine trees, so they’re always green, but they’re twice the height of most Abomasnow and it’s nuts! Or… I guess pinecones are the nuts?  _ Are _ they the nuts? I dunno, maybe? “Hey, Ivane, are pine cones nuts-”   
{Tales!}  _ Uh… what? _ She was standing in a ready stance, and I stiffened.  _ Does that mean there’s something coming? _ A lot of Pokemon were bolting like their lives depended on it, even… Sneasel? But aren’t Sneasel the predator ones? Why are  _ they _ running? Ivane nudged me over by a tree and motioned for me to… hide? 

“Are you gonna be okay?” She nodded, so I crouched while still clutching her Pokeball close to my chest, and she breathed frost over me to hide me in the snow.  _ It’s  _ **_so_ ** _ cold, but if she thinks it’s best _ ... 

A black streak came rocketing out of the corner of my vision, Ivane  _ barely _ turning in time to breathe fire at it and make it veer off course.  _ What was that? Pokemon don’t move that fast, do they? _ Apparently this one did, as they made a small trench in the snow from stopping so quickly and turning around. They’re a Sneasel, but… they looked demented. Their eyes normally aren’t that big, but this one’s… they were bright red and  _ tiny _ . They looked like you could go insane just staring at them. And their claws… they looked  _ way _ too sharp. I shivered, though whether it was from the cold or the Sneasel I don’t know. Ivane seemed unnerved too, but… she’s a fire type, right? Fire beats ice, so she should be okay!   
“Found something, did you?” 

_ That Sneasel has a trainer? Are they maybe trying to help the Sneasel be less crazy? _ They walked out from the trees’ shadows and just stared at her. He had a yellow G on his coat, and was wearing black striped pants and a matching shirt? His hair was this pale blue and spiky, but his eyes and face… they looked dead. Not like, corpse dead, but… unmoving. Uncaring. Like Ivane was a particularly interesting rock or something. He looked about leisurely before glancing down to his Sneasel. 

“A Ninetales like this isn’t simply a wild one. Its trainer is nearby, most likely hiding.”  _ Is the Sneasel… laughing? _ “Find them, or eviscerate the fox. Whichever comes first.”   
_ Uh… I don’t know what eviscerate means, but it sounds bad! Ivane can take this though, right? _ The Sneasel just started cackling like a maniac before they rocketed straight at Ivane. They were moving so quickly I could barely even  _ see _ them, save for a black streak and chips of wood occasionally flying off the trees. Ivane was glancing about and trying to get a bead on them, but every time she’d pivot in one direction the snow would fly to the side as the Sneasel hit her from the other way. I held the ball tighter.  _ She’s… just figuring them out right? She can beat them. She’s gotta! _

It didn’t seem like that though. Even when she managed to predict where he was coming from, the Sneasel simply curved around the blast of fire with a sadistic grin.  _ She can’t figure out where they’re coming from… Ma and Mom both do battles, and I’ve seen some. And Sis is gonna be doing a lot of them soon, so maybe I can help her! _

The snow burst off as I got up, shaking but determined to help. The guy just looked at me the same way he did Ivane, sending chills down my spine. He then turned to the Sneasel, who was perched up in a tree while Ivane panted. “End this quickly.” The Sneasel grinned way too wide in response. {Sel!} I turned to Ivane, who was giving me a look of… worry? Confusion? _Later, I need to help her!_  
I shook myself before looking at the Sneasel, still up in the tree. “They keep bouncing around on the trees, so maybe… if…” I caught his stare. I couldn’t help but want to step back, they looked _soulless._ _Don’t freak out!_ “If you keep your back to a tree, then he might not catch you off guard!” She looked at me, gave a small smile and nodded before she backed up to a tree. “You can do this!”

The Sneasel just looked at me and  _ cackled, _ as if they were laughing at the idea Ivane could win. I stood my ground. “She’s strong! She can win!” They nearly doubled over laughing before streaking at Ivane again.  _ She’s actually doing better now! They’re not getting as many hits in! By a little, but still! _ She kept letting loose Flamethrowers at them, the acrid smell of burnt pine needles and heat filling the air before being swept away by the cold again. After one jump, Ivane glared over at them and managed to hit them straight on! “Yeah, you can do-”

I was cut off as the Sneasel (now slightly burnt) just powered through it and cut Ivane before slamming her head to the ground.  _ Is that… blood? _ My heart quickened, while the Sneasel just seemed to be  _ enjoying _ this. My fists clenched.  _ If I don’t do something…  _ Snow isn’t the best thing to run on, but it’s nothing new. I yelled a bit while running at the Sneasel and punched them right in the face.  _ Did… did that do anything? _ My heart stopped as they didn’t even flinch, and their eyes swiveled over to me almost leaving behind red trails. A toothed grin spread across their face, and then their claws were on my neck and pinning me to the ground. Ivane barked something, and all I could see was a bit of sky, trees and those mad scarlet eyes boring holes into me. I tensed.   
“Leave the pup intact, otherwise it’s of no use.” Their claws tightened around my neck, a sharp pain flaring from where they were holding before letting up and grinning. {Sel, snea sel.} Ivane growled and strained to get up, but couldn’t. The man started walking towards me, and I tried to get up. Didn’t need to do that after he grabbed the scruff of my shirt and held me up off the ground, his eyes boring into me. “Don’t presume you can stand in my way,  _ child _ .” My heart couldn’t decide between beating a mile a minute and stopping from his piercing gaze. Air rushed past as he hurled me into a tree, knocking the wind out of me as I fell, unconscious.

**_~~???, Year 8520, Damidar, ???~~_ **

The next part… I’m not sure what happened. My head  _ really _ hurt and I felt really bad, but I could see a little? There was gray… metal? I didn’t see much more though before my body felt like it was burning up and deadly cold at the same time. Different colored blobs- like when you close your eyes really hard- and sparks were all I could see, and it felt like I was dying. And it just  _ didn’t stop _ . I think I was screaming? I don’t know. My head hurt even  _ worse _ and so did my butt, but I passed out again at some point. Everything just hurt too much.

**_~~???, Year 8520, Damidar, ???~~_ **

When I woke up next there was… white flaky stuff on the ground?  _ That’s snow, right?  _ Also a bunch of trees with needle leaves all around… I pushed myself up, turning to see  _ oh god scary guy is  _ **_right there_ ** _ running now! _ My legs nearly gave out from under me I pivoted so quickly to start bolting away. I looked frantically for Ivane or…  _ anyone  _ who would help, but there was nothing around but trees, bushes and more trees. No Pokemon or anything either…  _ that’s weird _ .  _ Thinking later, running now! _

It wasn’t until I couldn’t see the scary guy anymore that I stopped, footprints trailing long out of sight behind me. Something inside me was feeling like it was crazy how far and fast I’d run…? And why aren’t there any Pokemon around? I  _ feel _ like there should be… I scrunched my eyes up and tried to think of  _ why _ I felt like that, and what Pokemon should be around, but… nothing. My head’s all fuzzy… like that lady’s wings  _ oh gods person! _

My heart started pounding all over again, snow kicking up while I dashed behind a tree and pressed against it. My ears swiveled to either side so if she started coming, I’d know about it while my chest rose and fell quickly with my breaths. She shuffled a little bit, but it didn’t sound like she was coming.  _ Did she see me…? _ I chanced a glance around the tree and  _ she’s looking right at me! _ Back against the tree I went as she spoke in a soft, warm voice. “It’s alright, I didn’t mean to startle you.” My heart stopped pounding quite so hard.  _ She… doesn’t seem like the scary guy at least… _ I tentatively peeked out from around the tree.

She was sitting in the clearing underneath the… tree I found?  _ Why’s it here? This isn’t where it was… or is it? _ She was smiling warmly, and she felt warm too. She had these red horns on her head too, and six red-orange flamelike wings. Her hair looked  _ really _ fluffy and was tied back in a ponytail, being primarily white but the ends of separate locks would be red-orange like her wings. Overall she was pretty lithe, wearing a sunset orange long sleeved shirt and light blue sweatpants. She was leaning back against the tree, not trying to come get me or anything.  _ Maybe… maybe she is a nice person? _

Some part of me was telling me that all she was feeling was worry and wanting to help, so… I slowly came out from behind the tree, my tail curling in on itself anxiously. “You promise you’re not like the scary guy?” She shook her head, and beckoned me over. “Of course not, I’m only here to help.”  _ I hope she’s not lying… she doesn’t sound like it though. _ I walked over and sat down a little ways away from her. “So… who are you?”   
She put a hand to her chest. “My name is Rhea. What’s yours?” 

_ It’s… uh… _ my memory felt all fuzzy again, but this one was less fuzzy. “Aurora.” 

She tilted her head slightly and gave a warm smile. “That’s a nice name. Are you alright?”   
A chill went down my spine, remembering the scary guy and… whatever the painful thing was. “No… not really.”

Her face fell. “I’m sorry I can’t provide more than comfort, but you’re safe here. It’s alright.”

“Where… is here?” I asked, feeling like I should remember what this looks like, but… the pink sky felt wrong for some reason?   
“We’re inside your Dream World. It’s where Po-people go when they sleep, a sort of world they create in their subconscious.”  _ Why do I hear an androgynous cat talking about treasure? _ “Since this is separate from the real world, nothing there can hurt you here.”   
A huge sigh of relief left me, before I took a sharp breath. “But what about the scary guy? He was here…”   
She reached out a hand as if to touch me, and then drew it back.  _ I’m pretty sure I can trust her… she doesn’t feel bad anyway. _ I scooted a bit closer to her, and she smiled warmly before putting a hand on my shoulder. “Dreams aren’t always good. Nightmares are here too, but they’re in a different area. You don’t have to go there.”

I held my knees close to my chest. “I wanna go home… how do I get home from here?”

Her face fell again and she felt really sad all of a sudden.  _ That’s… that’s not good. _ “You’ll… you’ll be able to go home soon enough.” I just nodded; I don’t think I wanna talk more about that.

“You’re going to wake up soon, so just… be careful, okay? I can’t talk with you while you’re awake. You can come see me whenever you want here though.”

I smiled at her. “Okay!” She smiled again, but she still felt sad. And then she hugged me tight all of a sudden. Part of me wanted to squirm away, but she felt nice and like it’s okay.

“It’s alright… everything’s going to work out. I promise.” she said softly, almost hesitantly.  _ Well, she’s an adult so it’s gotta be true right? _

“See you soon Rhea!” She smiled at me as things went all black again around me.

**_~~???, Year 8520, Damidar, ???~~_ **

Everything’s fuzzy… and fluffy? That’s… Ivane, right? I held one of her tails close, absurdly relieved that someone I know is here with me.  _ At least I’m with Ivane, wherever this is… _

“How are you feeling?” My eyes turned from Ivane to a person just a  _ bit _ too close, with mid-length wavy pink hair that framed their face slightly. They had a toned but not really muscular body with a relieved smile on their face. They were wearing green pants, a lighter green undershirt and a white vest that complimented their darker skin. They all looked kinda tattered though…

A chill went down my spine; they  _ felt _ nice enough, but the scary guy was the last person to be so close to me… They pulled back after I did that.  _ I guess they can feel things like me? _ “I was just making sure you were alright while you slept. You’re still recovering, so you should take it easy for now.”  _ I do feel tired still… they don’t seem to wanna hurt me or anything. _

“{What’s your name?}” I asked as some tension left my shoulders. They seemed a little confused?  _ Is it normal to forget your name? _

“My name’s Mabel.” They gestured over to a  _ massive _ guy with spiky brown hair and  _ all _ the muscles. He looked like he could push on a rock and break it. He had a black sweater on and black jeans and darker skin like the first person, nodding in my direction. He had a bunch of scars and looked  _ oh so scary why! _ “That’s Benny. He’s my husband.”  _ He’s a scary husband! _ They gestured over to a Blissey standing next to them and a Bewear sitting with scary husband. “This is Haley and that’s Bors.”

Haley smiled and bowed slightly. {I’m glad you’re alright. You were really hurt from before.}

I tilted my head a bit. “{From the pain thing? It hurt a ton…}”

She and Bors looked really surprised, while Mabel and Benny just looked a bit confused. Mabel just smiled at me. “What’s your name?”

“{Aurora, but where are we? What’s going on? And… why is someone screaming?}” Their smile faltered and there was a spike of sadness in their heart.  _ That’s… that’s probably really bad. _

They took a moment to respond, apparently hesitant to tell me something? “We’re… not sure where we are. People from all over the region were brought here, but all of us were unconscious so we don’t know where  _ here _ is. As for what’s going on… what do you remember?”

Another chill went down my spine to the end of my tail. “{A tall scary guy with blank eyes attacked us… then there was a lot of pain… and now I’m here.}”

He nodded slightly. “We’re fairly certain the ‘scary guy’ is named Cyrus. The pain was… why the person you hear screaming is doing that.”

I shuddered.  **_That’s_ ** _ happening to other people? Why?  _ “Why?”

They gestured to me somewhat tentatively. “To make you like you, and other people like you as well I suppose.”

“{You mean my tail and stuff?}”

Their eyes widened just slightly. “Yes, are you okay with it?”

_ Well that’s a silly question. _ “{Why wouldn’t I be? I’m just me, right?}”

They looked concerned at that. “What exactly do you remember?”

“{I told you already?}”  _ Why are they asking such silly questions now? And why do they feel concerned about it? _

They looked lost in thought before they eventually responded. “Well for now, you know why that person’s screaming. And as for why you can hear them…” 

They didn’t gesture, but my head swiveled over to the noise momentarily after my ears. What was waiting for me was a huge screen taking up a fourth of the wall, showing a steel reinforced room and a huge machine at the center of it. It had numerous gigantic tubes hooked up to it, along with two separate raised platforms, each with six triangular pillars circling the edge. 

They were all emitting these crackling bluish rings of energy towards the center, where on one there was a Pyroar and on the other a person. They looked like they were being held in place by the rings while three devices crossed between laser cannons and tesla coils were aimed and firing electricity at them both. There were a bunch of pipes and cables between the two, and the bottom of the one the Pyroar was on looked like some kind of funnel siphon thing that connected to the bottom of the one the person was on. Said person’s hair was turning red and orange and I could see something flicking behind them. My heart wouldn’t stop beating-

A burst of electricity shot through me. _Ow! What why?!_ _It came from my neck what?_ I put a hand to my neck, and found some sort of metal ring around it. I shuddered while Mabel looked worriedly at me. “Are hugs alright?”  
I nodded shakily, the jolt having left me shuddering. They held me gently and close. They feel soft and nice and safe and smell like plants…

As they let go, Ivane's tails started shifting around me. 

Ivane shifted a little before shaking herself and looking at me, then Mabel, then curling her tails around me protectively quickly. I hugged her neck, gently saying “{It’s okay, they aren’t a meanie.}”

Some tension went out of her shoulders before her eyes focused on me, worry flooding through them without needing to feel it. {Are you alright, my child? They didn’t cause you too much pain, did they?}

I could feel something scary burning inside her when she asked that, but it didn’t feel like it was for me. “{A lot really… but I’m glad you’re here.}”

Her eyes widened as surprise rushed through her. {My child, you… can understand me?}

“{Yeah,}” I nodded, “{Shouldn’t I be able to?}”

She shook her head quickly to clear it before curling her tails closer to me. {No, it’s alright. You needn’t worry. I am simply… surprised, is all. I’m used to none but Pokemon understanding me is all.}

A sigh of relief escaped as I nuzzled closer to her. “{You keep saying my child… does that mean you’re my mama?}” I could feel surprise from Mabel, Haley and Ivane.  _ Is it really that surprising? _ It didn’t seem that way to Ivane, because she quickly felt all warm and fuzzy inside.

{Yes, my child. I am your mama. One of them.}

One of my ears flicked as I tilted my head. “{One of them?}”

That warm fuzzy feeling faded some. “{Yes, don’t you remember? Kalli and Solari?}”

I tried to think, but my head felt really weird still. They  _ sounded _ familiar, but I couldn’t remember why. And my head wasn’t the only thing that felt weird. My tail and ears felt sore, but I also felt really awful. Was it something that happened because of the painful thing? Maybe I’m just sick?

I gave a small cough and burrowed closer to Ivane. “{Mama? I feel really bad…}”

Her tails curled around me protectively, giving me a fluffy dome of safety. “{Then you should rest, my child. I will protect you while you sleep.}”

I nodded, yawned and curled up a bit. “{Okay… night night mama…}”

**_~~???, Year 8520, Damidar, ???~~_ **

My eyes opened some time later, but I didn’t feel any better. If anything, I felt  _ worse _ .  _ Why do I feel so cold…? And that screaming hasn’t stopped… _ My protective dome of tails shifted a bit as Mama looked to me. {What’s wrong my child?} I couldn’t stop shivering and she wrapped her tails around me more. {Ah, you can’t warm up. That’s alright, I can teach you.}   
My eyes grew a bit with curiosity. “{Teach me what?}”

She poked my chest gently with her nose. {Right there, you should feel your inner flame if you only focus. It’s burning low right now, but if you focus on making it grow then it will warm you.}

I nodded, and closed my eyes. I pictured a warm, flickering orange flame. It was pretty… then I imagined it growing some. As it grew, warmth spread through my body and-

“{ _ Aaah! _ }” My arms were still trembling, small bolts of electricity running down them. Whatever it was on my neck shocked me whenever I tried… Mama looked at me concerned. {What happened?}

I touched the thing on my neck. “{I thought of the flame growing, like you said, but…}”

Her eyes narrowed a bit. {Then I will remove it.} Her mouth opened and I moved my head so she could get to the thing around my neck easier, but when she bit down a  _ huge _ jolt shuddered through both of us. My teeth were chattering and Mama was shaking her head to try and get the feeling out of her mouth. {Or perhaps not.}

Just then a crackling sound sparked out from a corner of the room, before smoothing to a more even sound. 

“I trust you now know what will happen if you try and remove those collars. You're welcome to try again, though the discharge will only increase each time." There was a bit more crackling before silence again. Other people felt pretty concerned about that, but all I could do was shudder.  _ Collars? That’s what these are? They’re definitely awful… why would you put them on anyone? _

Mama just kept me close. {Perhaps if I…} then she spasmed in pain. And again. And again. “{Mama, please! Don’t hurt yourself for this…}”

Sorrow loomed in her heart, and she lowered her head. {I am sorry my child… I can’t warm you up. Or myself for that matter. Because of that vile valen apparently…}

One of my ears tilted. “{What’s a valen?}”

She recoiled slightly. {Ah… something you shouldn’t worry about, my child. It is a word for Mama’s use.}

“{Oh… okay.}” I curled close to her again, trying to get warm. Getting to sleep while freezing cold was hard enough, but the screaming wouldn’t stop… until it suddenly did? Out of curiosity, I looked out at the screen. What met my eyes wasn’t someone having fallen asleep, but their flesh sloughing off their bones into a red, burning puddle on the ground. The bones were blackened and turning to ash, as the last gurgling cries of someone as they melted into a mound of goop coming through the screen. 

My heart raced with horror, and soon after I was shocked again. Mama pulled me close again, but trying to get to sleep was almost impossible now with that image in my mind. Their mouth open, impossibly elongated and getting longer with each passing moment as they melted to the ground, their eyes’ life burning out as they fell, their-

‘ _ Ngh! _ ” Another shock pulsed through me, and whether I was shivering from cold or electricity I didn’t know anymore. Mama looked at me with despair welling in her heart, and she began to hum a little tune. At first it didn’t do anything, but as she kept humming I could slowly focus on her and not  _ that _ . Eventually, my eyes closed and I fell asleep again.

**_~~???, Year 8520, Damidar, ???~~_ **

Though this time didn’t last long either, and this time me and Mama were  _ freezing _ . The sheets were cracking if we moved from the frost gathered on them, and even when Mabel came over with more it didn’t help at all. I couldn’t help but cough, and my head hurt  _ really _ bad now. My teeth were chattering, my hands had frost on them, my tail was curled as tight as it could be, and Ivane was doing her best to try and help me warm up. Even though she was having the same problem.

After what felt like hours, there were two sequential beeps from the collars around mine and her necks. They felt… looser, somehow. I tried to focus on the flame like Mama told me, hard as it was. It was in a cavern of ice, barely burning. I closed my eyes tight and tried to make it grow. As it did, it went from only a few sparks to a soothing fire. I tried to make it bigger, but after getting a bit bigger than that I could feel the collar getting tingly. So the flame had to stay that size. Slowly, the cavern began to melt and I could feel my fingers and tail again.

“{Mama…? Can you get warmer too…?}”

She looked at me, and within moments I could feel her slowly warming up. {Yes, my child. How did you know?}

“{I didn’t… I just... tried.}” She gave me a warm smile, and I could feel my eyes closing already. Fog in my head felt like it was lifting a bit as I drifted off to sleep.

**_~~Snowpoint, Year 8519, Erishi, Luxem 9th~~_ **

_ “Here, Aurora, you’ll like these.” Ma handed me a small, wrapped bag. The wrapping was red with green holly leaves across it, and crinkled when I took it. _

_ “What is it?” I opened it to see wonderfully baked cookies in the shapes of little bells, leaves at the top. “These are cookies?!” _

_ Sis chuckled a bit, Reginleif, her Gible, already chomping away at one. “They are indeed. And very good ones too.” _

_ Mom hugged me tight and picked me up, grinning ear to ear. “We wanted to do something special for your birthday, so we took you here!” I hugged her back before squirming to get down, and she let me down. It would’ve been wrong to not shove one of the cookies in my face right away, so I did. _

_ “Thefe are r’lly good!” Ma laughed lightly, ruffling my hair. _

_ “Don’t eat them all too quickly now. You want to save some for later, don’t you?” _

_ I paused, and looked at the cookies. There were six in there, so… _

_ I held them up to Ma, Mom and Sis. “Here!” _

_ Sis looked at me confused. “But those are your cookies. Don’t you want them?” _

_ I nodded, smiling. “Yeah, but I wanna make y’all happy too!” _

_ They all had warm smiles, taking one as a lady walked up to us. She had a green apron on, and her gloves were covered in cookie dust. “Well, aren’t you a sweetheart?” She pulled out another crinkly package of cookies. “Here, some more fresh cookies for the kind birthday girl.” _

_ I gave her a big smile, and Mom whispered something to me. _

_ “Thank you Ms. Ginger!” _

_ “You’re more than welcome dearie.” _

**_~~???, Year 8520, Damidar, ???~~_ **

When I woke up, there was a lot of furry warmth around me.  _ Wha… oh right, Mama! _ Even though I still felt pretty bad, I was at least warm and safe with Mama. I gently shook her awake, and she looked at me blearily before smiling and yawning, her tongue curling a little. {Good morning my child. How did you sleep?}

“{Good! An’ I remember Ma and Mom now! And Sis!}”

Her eyes lit up and her heart swelled with joy. {Truly? That’s wonderful! I’m so very glad you remember them. Do you remember anything else?}

I scrunched up my face, thinking. {Uh… Ms. Ginger! And the cookies!}

Mama chuckled. {Yes, you always did love them. I’m sure she’ll be excited to see you again once we get home.}

My ears flicked and a grin spread across my face. “{Can we go home soon?}”

Her face fell a bit. {I… am not sure, but I do know we  **_will_ ** get out.}

Just then I could feel Mabel coming over, some people with them and Haley. Two had ears and tails and stuff ( _ like me!)  _ and the other two were Pokemon. One was an Eevee, a brown fox kinda like a Vulpix but with one tail, but the other… “{Mama? What’s the long fluffy brown one?}”

{That would be a Furret, my child. They’re quite common where your mom comes from. Perhaps she could take you some time?}

The lady walked up to me behind Mabel, the Furret right next to her. She had the same ears and tail as them, a striped brown dress and some slippers. She also had a yellow ribbon tying her hair back, though it looked kinda messed up…

Mabel just gave me a smile. “Aurora, I’d like you to meet these folk.” They gestured to the lady and the Furret with her. “These are Guinevere and Chestnut. And they-” they gestured to the girl and Eevee, “-are Hazel and Vivian.”

The lady ( _ Mabel gestured to her when they were introducing people, so I guess she’s Guinevere? _ ) stood next to the bed after a look from Mama, and inclined her head. “As they said, my name is Guinevere. I’m sorry you’ve ended up here, but I promise that I’ll do my best to help you while you’re here.”

The Furret who definitely had to be Chestnut stood up on her hind legs, smiling. {As will I. Please ask us if you need anything.}  _ They feel like they do this a lot? _

Guinevere then gently nudged Hazel towards me. She seemed a bit nervous, but was still smiling a bit. She had brown hair and ears and a tail like her Eevee friend, with a simple brown shirt and pink skirt on. Both seemed a bit roughed up, but I was more curious about how old she was. Even the other kids looked at least twice my age, but she looked almost the same age as me. A bit older, but still. And her Eevee friend was wary, but Mama just kept me close. She wasn’t letting anyone mess with me.

“Ah… hullo, my name is Hazel. Nice to meet you-”

I then started coughing a lot. Haley came a bit closer, but Mama narrowed her eyes and growled slightly. She looked worried though. {Please, I just want to check her condition.}

Mama felt  _ really _ wary until she finally said {Fine, but if you hurt her…} She uncurled her tails from me just a bit, Haley walking closer and putting a hand on my head. Then she blinked, looked at Ivane, shook her head and sighed.  _ Why does she feel like she just did a dumb thing? _

{Well you’re definitely coughing. Are you dizzy? Tired a lot more than usual? Feeling heavy?}

I thought a moment. “{Uh… Yes? To all of that?}”

She turned back to Mabel, saying {She’s sick,} before turning back to me, {and while we don’t have the supplies to cure it I can make it better.} Then she looked to Mama. {Is that alright with you?}

She nodded slowly. {I would prefer if you could cure it, but given the situation…} she gestured her snout to me gently. Haley then pulled out a soft, white egg from… nowhere? And gave it to me.

{Eat this. It won’t fix everything, but it’ll help.} I nibbled a bit at it, and then my stomach remembered I hadn’t eaten anything for I can’t remember how long. Down it went in three more bites. While I was staying close to Mama, I could smell some soothing scent coming from Haley. It smelled like pine, a warm campfire and cookies.  _ How is she doing that? _   
{She’s using a couple of her abilities.} Mama nudged me a bit so I could see better. There was a faint greenish glow around her, and a leaf or two. It also looked like the collar was shocking her a bit, but she persisted for a few more moments. Once she was done she shivered, and even though I felt better I also felt worse? My body didn’t feel as bad but my heart definitely did.

“{Why’d you hurt yourself…?}” 

She just shook herself and then her head. {Because I’ll be okay in a couple minutes. But you won’t, so I helped as much as I could with Aromatherapy.}

“Thanks Haley.” Mabel then looked at me, Mama, Hazel and Vivian. “We need to go talk, but you two can get to know each other if you want to. Guinevere, could you…?”

She nodded, smiling warmly. “Of course.” She sat on a bed opposite us and would look at us, but otherwise was talking to Chestnut. “It’s absolutely  _ wonderful _ to be able to finally talk to you properly.”

She nodded. {I know, it’s-}

Hazel waved her hand in my vision and I blinked. “{Are you okay? You know, aside from being sick.}”

I just made a face and she nodded, her face and ears falling. “I know…”   
We sat there awkwardly for a moment.

“{Sooooo… Where are you from?}”

I looked up a bit. “{Snowpoint, but I don’t remember a ton…}”

Her eyes widened a ton and her jaw nearly dropped. “How do you  _ live _ up there? It’s so cold and snowy all the time!”   
An ear flopped as I tilted my head. “{Whaddya mean? Isn’t snow common?}”

She nodded, her eyes still wide. “{Sure, but not  _ all _ the time! Snow can be really pretty when the frost lilies grow, but that’s only during winter.}”

Something started lighting up, even through the foggy mess that was my head at the moment. “{I… I know we have winter, but I’m pretty sure nobody goes out much then.}”   
Hazel shivered a bit, and I could feel that even just the thought of home was making her colder. “{I would think so. From what I hear, Snowpoint gets three to four feet of snow in the winter.}”

Vivian looked up at Hazel. {I’m glad you don’t wanna go. I don’t wanna be a Glaceon, and I don’t think you do either.} She glanced over at me and Mama. {Not that being of ice is bad, I’m just not partial.}

Mama shook her head. {No, I understand. It’s truly not that bad when you get accustomed, but it is most certainly more challenging than most places. An acquired taste I suppose, yet quite the nice one when acquired.} She gazed fondly at me. {One my child is already quite fond of.}

My face broke out into a smile as Hazel still felt unconvinced, but glad that it made us happy. One of my ears flicked. “{So where do you live?}”

Her face brightened. “We live in Floaroma. It’s not big or anything, but it’s peaceful. There’s lots of flowers everywhere. We have a garden with lots and lots of flowers, with vegetable plants and berry trees too!”   
Vivian felt a bit embarrassed at the mention of the trees, so one of my eyebrows went up. “{Are the trees bad?}”   
She shook her head quickly. {No no, it’s just… I may have wanted to gather some berries myself. And… not been quite sure how to get down again.}

Mama looked concerned at that. {And you couldn’t jump down yourself? How young were you at the time?}

{I had only hatched a week or two prior,} she recounted, {so it was… not my greatest plan.}

Hazel smiled and hugged her. “But we helped you all the same.”

Vivian smiled back, and the two felt happier now. Maybe things are gonna get better now? If… Guinevere? Guinevere can help us, and there’s a Guinevere for adults, and everyone helps the Guineveres, then-

_ “AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!” _

I flinched from the noise, but even with my ears ringing what came next made my heart sink.   
“Mother…?”

Hazel and Vivian had turned to look at the screen, with a man clenching his fists looking at it. I couldn’t feel anything from either of them except abject  _ horror _ , and the man felt like that along with seething rage. The woman on the screen was being electrocuted alongside… a big leafy mouth on the other platform? They had a small, green body, two huge leaves with teeth that had eyes on top, and a bunch of vines below them. A couple were red, and two huge long leaves on either side kinda like arms. They seemed in pain too, but what was happening to the woman… 

Her legs looked like they were boiling, before they each split into four limp tendrils. I felt something that burned my throat rise up a bit, but that wasn’t the end of it. Her arms were stretched out and flattened, with… a  _ lot _ of blood coming out of them. Then her head… Her teeth got sharper, and her mouth got wider and wider and wider until there was this  _ snap _ that made me shudder and hide in Mama’s tails.

She curled them around me and kept me close. I could hear Hazel crying, and Guinevere going over to help comfort her. Mama peeked through her tails at me. {I am sorry... my child.} Her heart felt like it was about to shatter.

“{Why? You didn’t d-do that.}”

She closed her brilliant eyes. “{I am sorry that I was unable to keep you safe from this place. None should see these horrors, and especially not one so young.}”

I hugged onto one of her tails. “{Have… have you seen…  _ that _ before?}”

She grimaced, and a long dormant dark rage burned in her heart. {Humans are not as ingenious as they believe themselves to be. I have not seen this particular method before, but groups of humans thinking themselves the ‘progenitors of a new age’ as they have a habit of calling it and causing the suffering of countless others for their deluded goals.}

_ So humans do this kind of thing over and over…?  _ I looked to Mama again. “{Then… why don’t you and other Pokemon stop them?}”

{We used to. After the invention of the Pokeball however, humans became more… brazen. And we are yet unable to thoroughly prevent their usage.} She growled. {I had thought perhaps humans had moved past such atrocities. Clearly I was mistaken.}

“Excuse me, may I speak with the both of you a moment?”   
Mama’s tails parted a bit, and I saw Guinevere standing beside the bed with Chestnut. “I needn’t understand your words to know your meaning, at least here.” Her face fell. “Do you have parents, child?”

I pointed to Mama, and while her lips curled up a bit she shook her head. “Not her, dear. Human parents.”

One of my eyes closed a bit, the same side’s ear flattening sideways while my other eyebrow raised. “{What’s the difference?}”

She seemed a bit surprised-  _ Why are so many people surprised by the stuff I say? It’s not crazy- _ before elaborating. “Because I just want to know if there is a home waiting for you when you get out of here.”   
I nodded, and she breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good to know. You see, I run an orphanage. Which is for children who… don’t have a home to go to. And while I am more than happy to help those children, it always pains my heart that they have nowhere else to turn. So hearing that you  _ do _ have a home to return to brings me joy.”

I could feel that dark fire in Mama going away a bit. {Why have you come here then? Since I take it that was not your only reason.}

She shook her head again. “I know it must be… difficult, to rest after witnessing what just happened. So I would like to sing a lullaby to you, just to help you sleep.” She looked to Mama with a small smile. “Of course, you’re more than welcome to…” she paused a moment. “-sing it to her yourself once I give you the lyrics?”

I felt like Mama rolled her eyes a bit, but she felt calmer and nodded. {After my child has fallen asleep.}

Guinevere nodded, and Chestnut sat on her lap as she began.

_ “Come my child, stay with me. _

_ I’ll protect you~ and your dreams. _

_ Rest my child~, ‘neath the tree. _

_ Like its branches, reach for me. _

_ So let me keep you safe and warm, here in my arms. _

_ Think of the life that we could live, _

_ The joy that it would give.” _

My thoughts went home with Mama, Mom, Ma and sis. All of us happy and together and safe…

_ “Even if we’re worlds apart, stay in my heart. _

_ Some-day when you’ve a choice to make, _

_ I hope you’ll think of me. _

_ Think of me, _

_ Think of me~” _

My eyes were getting heavy, and the soft melody she sang put me to sleep in Mama’s safety.

**_~~???, Year 8520, Damidar, ???~~_ **

Next time I woke up, I still felt  _ horrible _ . There was a sag in the bed, so I peeked out of Mama’s tails. Mabel was sitting on the bed, holding two bowls of… something. Whatever it was, it smelled about as awful as I felt.

“Rise and shine Aurora,” they said gently, “I’ve got breakfast for you and Ivane.” I looked at the bowls again. It was this weird liquidy tan mixture that looked like it had tiny chunks of…  _ something _ . I wrinkled my nose, and they gave a sad smile. “I know, it’s not great, but it’s better than nothing.”

{What is?} Mama’s tails brushed past me a little as she turned to look at the bowls. {Oh. Quite frankly, I may prefer nothing.} She looked at me. {You must eat however, my child. You need to keep your strength up.}

“{Blech…}” I took the bowl and spoon, trying to get some of it onto it. It took awhile for the extra to fall off, which didn’t make me wanna eat it any more. But I  _ was _ hungry, so I put it in my mouth anyway.

It tasted as awful as it looked. Somehow it was  _ bland _ and  _ repugnant _ at the same time.  _ I don’t even know how you  _ **_do_ ** _ that. _ It was mushy and disgusting and even though my stomach protested, I really didn’t wanna eat more.

Mabel looked a bit worried, but Mama just moved close. {My child, allow me.} She blew on it, the liquidy mixture crackling and freezing into a solid mass. A purple glow then enveloped the spoon as she used it to crack it, little bits of frozen awful flying away. {I cannot make it taste better, but it should be easier to stomach while frozen.}

I took a chunk of it and put it in my mouth. It was small enough so I could swallow it just fine. It didn’t taste  _ good _ , but my stomach accepted the offering and my tongue wasn’t about to mutiny. So I quickly ate the frozen awful chunks before they thawed, Mama doing much the same with hers. Her teeth were sharp though, so she could chomp it a lot easier.

“I’d hoped we’d never have to eat this again.”

I looked up and saw Mabel looking at Benny, Haley and Bors who I could feel shared their feelings. My heart dropped.  _ They’ve eaten awful before? Why would you  _ **_ever_ ** _ eat this stuff unless you gotta?  _ “{You’ve eaten this before? Why would you  _ do _ that, it tastes awful!}”

They smiled sadly. “There was a war a while ago that we were all in. Two friends of ours were with us, Jerome and his partner Beowulf, a Stoutland. There wasn’t a lot of food to go around, but we had to keep going somehow. Gruel is… well, it’s definitely  _ not _ the best meal out there, but it’ll keep you alive.”

Benny started making a bunch of motions with his hand. Mabel stayed silent, watching them, a grin on their face widening a bit. “It could’ve gotten its name from that, yes. It’d certainly be accurate.”

I tilted my head, confused. “{What’d he do? Some super secret code thingy?}”

Mabel shook their head. “No, that’s sign language. It’s a way for people who can’t speak to still communicate. Maybe we could teach you sometime?” They said with a smile.

_ So it’s a way for people who can’t speak to speak? That’s good! Everyone should be able to talk with each other. _

I nodded, smiling. They went back to eating while Mama looked at me, worry in her heart and clouding her eyes. {My child?}

“{Yeah?}”

{Are you feeling any better? You are quieter than normal, and…} She paused. {While there are several reasons for that to be the case, I simply want to make certain you are alright.}

I shivered a little, hugging her neck. I still couldn’t get what I saw yesterday out of my head, and I still felt awful. At least I wasn’t freezing now, but still. Mama seemed to get it, since she just curled her tails around me and kept me close. {I understand. Do not force yourself, my child. I am here for you.}

She kept me close, and I cuddled in her fluffy warmth while I tried to think. My head was still really fuzzy, but that fuzziness couldn’t make what happened yesterday go away.  _ They’re doing that painful thing to more people… why? It killed somebody! Wouldn’t you stop after that? Unless they don’t care… _

I shivered, and Mama held me closer.  _ At least Mama’s here… and other nice people.  _ I snuggled closer, still not feeling good.  _ I don’t wanna feel awful… _

{My child?}

Mama was looking at me concerned. {I know you are not well, so would you like to hear some stories? There are many I can tell you if you so wish.}

I nodded. “{That’d be good…}”

She nuzzled her snout into me. {Very well. Then I shall tell you the tale of the Three Beasts.}

She settled into a more comfortable position, the golden fur of her tails making up an almost ethereal sky while I stayed close. {Several hundred years ago, there were two towers built in monument to two legendary Pokemon. One Ho-Oh, the Rainbow Pheonix of Rebirth. And the other Lugia, the Azure Leviathan of Balance. These two towers were called the Brass and Bell towers.}

My ears tilted back. “{Those names aren’t cool at all.}”

She chuckled. {No they are not, my child. We Pokemon refer to them as the Tower of Tides and Tower of Blaze. That is… we used to.}

I could feel melancholy in her heart as she continued. {One day, a raging bolt of lightning struck the Tower of Tides amidst a terrible thunderstorm. Lugia was not there at the time to stop it, and the tower lit up in a pillar of flame that lit up the dark sky itself. Three Pokemon, foxes such as yourself and I, were trapped within the tower as it burned.}

My breath hitched. 

{However, not all was lost. Ho-Oh, who had been perching on their tower, flew over to save these Pokemon.} She stopped a moment, probably thinking about what had happened. 

{When the tower was naught but ash and cinders, it was thought these Pokemon were lost. To the surprise of everyone, they sprang out from the ashes having evolved into new beings of thunder, fire and water. They were the three Beasts; Raikou, Beast of Thunder, Entei, Beast of Combustion, and Suicune, Beast of Purity.}

She smiled and nuzzled her snout into my chest. {Suicune is also known as the Beast of Auroras, my child.}

My eyes widened. “{Like me…?}”

She nodded. {Precisely. These three Beasts still roam the earth to this day, enjoying the freedom they now have.} She curled her tails closer to me. {Even in darkest times, they returned stronger than ever, having endured adversity and given a new form to fit. Much like you, my child.}

I looked at myself. My hair was a bright orange, and the base of my tail was too. The rest of it was white, and I think my ears were orange too? But I had hands and forward knees and elbows and stuff, unlike Mama. “{You really think I’m like them…?}”

She nuzzled me, bringing me into a comfy spot with her. {I know you are, my child. I know you are one of the kindest people I have ever known, and I know that one day? You will gaze upon the same starry sky that the Three Beasts do. And I know you will love it just as much as they do.}

I started to nod off, but I still had one really big question. “{Mama…?}”

{Yes, my child?}

“{Were you there when everything happened?}”

She nodded. {I was, my child.}

I snuggled closer, a light rumbling in my chest as I thought of her watching three super strong Pokemon who survived a burning tower run free, whatever that looks like.

_ They’re like me… _

**_~~Snowpoint, Year 8519, Sonabor, Umbrum 21st~~_ **

_ We were all sitting outside, the blizzard having only just stopped being all blustery and stuff. Lots of fresh snow was outside, but we weren’t looking at that. We were looking at the sky and the stars. _

_ “Look, it’s starting!” Sis exclaimed. _

_ Up in the sky, the auroras started flickering to life. Long flaming tails of green, blue and purple flared and danced across the sky. Their light reflected off the snow, bathing everything in a soft, comforting glow. _

_ I watched in awe as they swam amongst the stars, flying free and gleefully above us all. It wasn’t like anything I’d ever seen. They were so full of life, freedom and joy… _

_ “Aurora.” _

_ My family looked at me curiously. I smiled at them. “Aurora. That’s gonna be my name.” _

_ Ma smiled. “So you’ve settled on a name? Good for you!” _

_ I hugged them happily. “So my pronouns are she/her and my name’s Aurora!” _

_ As we all embraced, Ivane smiled happily at us as well. After a long hug, Mom looked at her before smiling at me again. “Did you know auroras are also called fox fires?” _

_ I shook my head, and stared at the sky in wonder again. There’s so many pretty, awesome things in the world that it makes all on its own. _

_ I’m glad I get to live in this world. _

**_~~???, Year 8520, Damidar, ???~~_ **

Mama’s tails were wrapped close to us both as I was waking up.  _ It’s really nice to be warm and cozy with Mama. I still don’t feel great, but at least I’m not gonna be an ice cube. Or snow… Mama probably remembers the night I just remembered, right? I should- _

“ _ FUCKING SHITBALL ASSHOLE BITCH CRACKER- _ ”

My ears flattened against my head as I looked to the screen. There was a lady with longer hair that was turning green across from… a big green dragon? They had red domes over their eyes and red outlines on their wings and the end of their tail. The lady kept screaming lots of words, and I noticed Guinevere instructing adults to cover the ears of some kids.

{Goodness that’s loud,} Mama said, looking at the screen before she looked at me. {Did that wake you my child?}

_ I… don’t know? I know I woke up but I dunno if the screaming woke me up… Maybe it was the dream ending? _

She seemed to recognize my hesitation and just nodded. {Do not worry, you do not need to respond if you don’t have an answer.}

I nodded, looking at the screen worried. The lady kept yelling lots. “{Mama…?}”

{Yes, my child?}

“{Is she gonna die?}”

Her ears drooped and I felt pain spike in her heart before she looked at the screen again. {I… cannot say, my child. I hope she does not.}

Mama had to remind me to breathe, since I kept forgetting. Watching and hoping that she wasn’t gonna die. I don’t know how long it took to stop, but eventually it did. The lady and dragon looked in pain, but they were still moving and not… puddles…

Some humans in gray outfits with doofy looking blue hair went over, took them out of the machine, and walked offscreen.  _ I hope they’re okay… wait a minute. _

“{Mama,}” I said, causing her to look back at me. “{What were the words she was saying? She was screaming a lot of them a lot.}”

She paused. {Remember the word I said was a word for mama, my child? Those are human words of the same kind. Adults use them.}

I nodded.  _ There’s a lot of adult words… I wonder why they’re for adults? Why aren’t they kid words? What makes a word not a kid word? Are there kid words? _

There was a sudden hissing sound, and when we looked we saw a door rising up into the wall. The lady and dragon from before were dumped on the floor by the humans from earlier before they walked out, the door hissing shut behind them. I took the chance to look at the both of them better. 

The dragon was pretty big, much bigger than me or Mama. The lady had long green hair that split into two now and wings like the dragon did, but no tail. She was definitely smaller than the dragon, and her dark green jeans were messed up. A lot around the knees, for some reason, but in general too. Her shirt was pretty messed up too.

A man human and boy human ran over to her, talking while Ivane looked at me. {It is good to see that they are alive. Perhaps not well, but alive.}

I nodded again. “{Mama? What’s the big dragon?}”

She smiled slightly. {That is a Flygon, my child. Usually they live in deserts, and they can play wonderful songs with their wings.}

“I’ve never seen them before,” Hazel said as she walked up with Vivian, “I’m just glad she’s okay.”

My heart dropped. I couldn’t help but immediately remember how she’d watched her own mama die in front of her in a really, really awful way.  _ And she’s still saying she’s glad someone else is okay… _

“{Are… how are you?}” I asked her gently.

She shuddered. “Not… great. It’s… a lot. Dad’s been acting really weird since he was in that machine, but at least he’s still…”

Vivian nuzzled against her. {I’m here too. And I’m not going anywhere, don’t you worry.}

Hazel hugged her tight, and Mama inclined her head. {If you would like someone to confide in in the future, I am here.}

“{Me too!}” I said quickly, “{I dunno how much I can help, but if you wanna talk to us you can!}”

They both looked at us. Vivian was quiet, but Hazel smiled. “Thank you, both of you. We’ll keep that in mind.”

I could tell from the way they both felt they weren’t okay. They were both so sad I didn’t really understand just how sad they were.  _ And I can’t do much to help, can I…? They lost their Mama. I can’t bring her back and I dunno how to help them feel better about it at all… but they also don’t feel like they wanna talk about it more. So… maybe if we talk about something else, that could help a little? I dunno, but I can try… _

“{Mama, what’s a desert?}”

They all looked at me.  _ Don’t choke now! _ “{You said Flygon come from deserts, right? What’s a desert like?}”

I could feel surprise flash through her before her eyes shined for a moment, warmth and adoration welling up inside her. {That depends on who you ask, my child. I would say that they are large, sandy expanses with little to no water. Others may say the sand is most important, while still others say the lack of water is more important. However, we Pokemon call them by what I just said. For sand with lots of water is likely a beach, and a lack of water just means it is dry.}

Hazel looked curious now. “Pokemon have different definitions for deserts? What about other things?”

Mama smiled. {We have our own culture, after all. Humans may not speak our language, but that does not mean we do not speak with each other. And when a Vibrava is asking for directions to a desert, what is most important? Philosophizing about what a desert truly is, or directing them to someplace they can call home? We call large, dry, sandy expanses deserts because when a Pokemon native to such places asks, that is what they are searching for.}

Vivian made a face. {Yeah, if I asked where a desert was to become a Flareon and someone pointed me north to the Snow Sea because it looks kinda like sand, I’d be livid.}

Hazel looked at Vivian. “{The snow sea… is that what you call the way to Snowpoint?}”

Mama nodded. We kept talking about places, what they were named, the weird way humans name things, stuff like that for a while. Guinevere and her dad came over to help them to sleep, which left me with Mama. Mabel came by with Haley to give us more awful food, which Mama froze so it was frozen awful and not mushy icky awful. And a while after that, I went to sleep.

**_~~Dream World, Year 8520, Damidar, ???~~_ **

I opened my eyes to see the place I was before, with the pink sky and trees and Rhea and everything. But when I turned around  _ why are the shadows snarling?! _

Rhea was there, her wings outstretched and burning, pushing the shadows back. They had red eyes and sharp teeth and were snarling  _ furiously _ . They looked like they were trying to fight back until Rhea’s wings shone brightly, making the shadows hiss and run away. The world seemed brighter once they were gone.

I looked at her, shaking a little. “What… what were those?”

Rhea looked back, smiled a bit and walked over to give me a hug while the flames on her wings winked out. “Just some nightmares I had to make go away. It’s okay.”

We sat down in the snow, next to the icy tree.  _ I still really feel like I should know what this is… Wait, Rhea’s an adult. She knows lots of things. Right? _

“Hey Rhea?”

She looked at me kindly. “Yes?”

“Why is…” I fell silent a moment.  _ Why is a collar on our necks, why are we here and not outside, why are they doing mean things, why do they keep hurting people, why are people dying, why can’t we all go home? _ “...why is everything that’s happening, happening?”

Her face fell, having stayed silent while I was trying to figure out what to say. She started gently rubbing my back. “I… don’t know. I wish I did. But I know you’ll see your family again and that things will get better.”

I looked at her confused. “Why does everyone keep saying that?”

“Because they’re doing their best to comfort you,” she said while still rubbing my back, “Since they know this is a really awful time. But they also know that things get better. That’s only because they’ve actually been in better times, while you… haven’t had much of a chance, yet. They want to make sure you know that this isn’t all life is.”

I sat there with her.  _ What life is… I mean I dunno what it  _ **_is_ ** _ , but I know this place doesn’t like life. So they’re saying that things are gonna get better because they’ve been in better places? But isn’t that what happened before and this is what’s happening now? And nobody seems to know how long it’s gonna keep going… Maybe they’re trying to make themselves feel better too? Knowing that they’ll get back to a better place? That’d explain why they feel a bit better themselves after saying it… _

I continued thinking about that sorta thing until the world started getting darker, my eyes closing again.

**_~~???, Year 8520, Damidar, ???~~_ **

Mama was keeping me close, since the lady from yesterday and her family had come by. Apparently her name was Leanne, and the Flygon with her was Yvonne. It took me a second to pronounce that, but it wasn’t hard. She and her family had said hi, and now we were all talking along with Hazel and Vivian. Mostly just them though; I still didn’t feel well enough to talk too much. They didn’t seem to mind, at least.

“-you’re sure you’re doing okay? That was… clearly pretty painful yesterday,” said the man human who was apparently Leanne’s husband.  _ Like a mom, but not a girl. _ A Glalie was with him, hovering and looking more concerned about her.

Leanne just grinned, blearily putting a hand on her flexing bicep. “I’m fine! Don’t worry ‘bout it, I’m okay. Tired, but okay.”

Their child smiled brightly, a Phantump with him. “Of course you’re fine, you’re the strongest!” He hugged Leanne tightly.

She smiled and ruffled his hair, holding him close. “Moms are strong, ya know.”

The feeling that was coming from all of them… it reminded me of something.  _ Sorta like the memories I dreamt of? But I couldn’t feel their emotions there… Were they dreams? They didn’t feel like it… _

Yvonne was sitting with Hazel and Vivian, her wings humming a tune I’d never heard before. It was almost hypnotic listening to it, but beautiful all the same. I hadn’t heard her speak yet, and yet it felt like a second voice for her. 

“Hey you okay? You look out of it.” Razin had stepped away from his mom a bit to come talk to me.

I shook my head, but stopped quickly because of how it made the world spin. “{Not really… I feel awful.}”

Razin tilted his head and gave me a weird look. “Oh… I got an idea! Whenever I feel sick my mom gives me medicine and lots of hot soup. Sometimes I get to drink ginger ale too! I’ll ask Mabel if they can get any!” Razin bounced away. A few seconds later he came over pulling on Mabel’s arm.

“Mabel, she’s not looking good, kinda like my mom. Can you fix her too?” 

Mabel gave a sad smile to the both of us. “If I had any of my supplies, I could.” They paused a moment before glancing up at a camera. “Hey, can you hear me?! Could we get some medical supplies?”

There was a long pause after Mabel asked. Eventually, the door hissed open halfway and one of the blue haired people just tossed a duffel bag near us before it slammed shut again. Mabel ran towards it and said more of the adult words Mama was talking about before carrying it over. “Well… I guess this is what we’ve got.” They took out a couple things, one of them looking like a yellow-orange translucent pellet and a bottle of some white tiny pellets.

“Here,” they said, giving me the yellow one, “this should help with the coughing. I need to go figure out what the other pills actually  _ are _ before I can give them to you. Razin, give this to your mom, okay.”

Razin nodded. “Got it, thanks Mabel. Hope you feel better, Aurora.” Razin ran off to go help his mama.

I nodded and Mama sighed while Mabel walked away. “{What is it?}”

She rolled her eyes. {Human medicine looks so similar. Unsurprising that they gave us an unmarked bottle of nigh indeterminable pills. That yellow one is a cough drop, however. It may help with your throat, my child.}

I put the drop in my mouth. It tasted kinda plant-y, but also really sweet. My throat did hurt less after, so that helped. While I stayed in Mama’s tails, I noticed a lady and a big tan and green bird with a feather coming off their head standing with her. When Mama followed my gaze, she smiled a little. {It is good to see another from that half of my origins.}

I looked at her curiously, and she explained. {I am part Alolan, my child. That is a Decidueye, which are also native to Alola. I do not know if they come from Alola, but they remind me of the lands.}

The lady walked over to Mabel with the Decidueye right with her and stood with them, across the room from us. Mabel looked at her. “Can I help you?”

“Perhaps,” she said while gesturing towards the duffel bag, “Do you have a specific purpose in mind for that?”

They glanced at her oddly before their eyes widened in understanding. “Oh, you mean the bag? Not really, no, why do you ask?”

The lady sat down. “I was hoping to discuss the best use of this bag, potentially for escape. You never know how it could be of use.”

Mabel raised an eyebrow. “Miss…?”

“Paris.” She nodded to the Decidueye with her. “Legolas.”

They nodded. “Right. Miss Paris, while I understand the sentiment, I’m not exactly confident that a duffel bag is enough to help us escape regardless of what you do with it.” Paris looked like she wanted to say something, but recognized Mabel had more to say.  _ Humans can do that? _

“Not that it couldn’t  _ ever _ be helpful, but right now? We don’t have anywhere near enough for that sort of project, we’re clearly under tight watch and we barely know what’s going on or where we are. Right now, I’d say it’s best if we kept it as a bag and bide our time.”

She nodded. “Of course.”

Mabel smiled. “You knew how that was going to go and just wanted to change the subject to something a bit more positive, didn’t you?”

She smiled back. “Guilty as charged. I can’t say I’ve been through anything like this before, but… you clearly have. To some extent, at least. And we cannot get through this unless we all keep a level head. Keeping the goal in mind is part of that.”

_ Mabel definitely felt much calmer after she brought that up… but humans don’t seem to be able to sense emotions or anything? How’d she know that’d help? _

Benny and Bors had walked over to them by this point, which turned out to be good as the door hissed open again. Another human with the dumb blue haircut called out. “Decidueye and trainer!” They also threw in… two balls of fluff? One was much bigger than the other, and a bunch of people ran over and picked up what I saw to be a Pokemon and a guy with super poofy white hair that had covered him before.

The anger and hatred from everyone in the room went up a  _ lot _ when they said that, but Paris and Legolas just nodded and walked out. I noticed a tall Pokemon with a black dress and lots of white bows on them had glowing eyes before the door hissed shut.

I cuddled more in Mama’s tails. “{Mama? Why didn’t anyone stop them…?}”

She nuzzled me gently. {They are biding their time, my child. Certainly, if we all banded together, we could stop individuals easily. However, due to the conditions they have us in, there is no chance of such an attempt ending in their demise or worse. This does not mean we do not try, simply that we wait for the right time.}

I nodded, holding close to her.  _ But what about the people who get taken away during that time? Do we just… pretend that didn’t happen? That  _ **_can’t_ ** _ be it, right? I mean not everyone dying is good, but what happens if it goes on really long? _

Pretty soon, Paris and Legolas were brought where the screen saw. They were hooked up where I’d seen other people hooked up before, but they were… asleep?

_ I don’t think you can sleep in that thing for long though… _

As the machine hummed to life and electricity started crackling, everyone in the room slowly went silent.  _ Everyone’s watching… and hoping.  _ I looked over at Leanne, and some of the other people like me.  _ They feel bad… since we know what it feels like. And they’re hoping she’s gonna be okay… _ I then looked over to another, distinctly sadder, group.  _ They all feel like they lost somebody… they’re hoping nobody else has to go through what they do. _

I stayed close to Mama.  _ What am I hoping for…? I just hope she’ll be okay and not… a puddle or anything… _

{My child?} Mama said as she nudged me gently, {Should I cover your eyes?}

“{...no,}” I said slowly, “{I already… know what happens. And I can hear it anyway…}”

She nodded and simply kept me close to her while it was happening. Everyone watched silently, seeing Paris change so her hair was green and shrouded her face like Legolas, and a feather-like bit of hair as well. She got wings too, but on her back and not her arms.

After an agonizingly long time, slowly, the machine began to wind down. The noises got quieter and the glow got softer until it had turned off completely. They were unconscious and different now, but alive. A lot of people started cheering a bit, and Mama smiled. {She has made it.}

“Aurora!” I turned around to see Razin running up to me with Hazel. “They survived! That’s a good sign right? Maybe they fixed the machine so nothing bad will happen to anyone else?”

Hazel looked at him sadly. “I hope so…”

I could feel Mama had her doubts, but I smiled at him anyway. “{Maybe. That’d be nice.}”

Razin scratched his chin awkwardly. “I can’t really understand everything you said after ‘maybe’, but you guys just gotta have hope! They wouldn’t just… turn more people into puddles without fixing the machine. Right?”

Hazel nodded while I stayed quiet.  _ Mama said that humans do stuff like this… It’s not a puddle-inator, or we’d all be puddles. But they also didn’t really stop after anyone died… _ Mama just nuzzled me gently, bringing me out of my thoughts. “{If they did they’d be super meanies.}”

Razin nodded, but I could tell he didn’t understand me again. “Yeah… super meanies!” He agreed with what I said last pretty hard so at least we share feelings about them being super meanies. He couldn’t understand me perfectly, but he tried.

Hazel looked at us. “Can we… talk about something else?”

I nodded.  _ Uh… what do people talk about? Cookies? Snow? Beds? _

“Oooh have you two ever been to Sunyshore City? It’s got solar panel walkways, pretty beaches, a huge marketplace and a rock shaped like a Munchlax! My parents and I took lots of pictures in front of it,” Razin gushed.

Hazel shook her head while I looked at him curiously. “{What’s a solar panel? Or marketplace? Or Munchlax?}”

Now Razin was looking at me like I had two heads. “Solar panels are generators that get their power from the sun. Marketplaces are like shopping malls, but… different. Munchlax is a baby Snorlax, but I think they are pretty rare.”

_ I don’t know what any of those things are. _

Hazel tapped him on the shoulder. “The machine messed with her head some, and she’s from Snowpoint. I don’t think they have shopping malls there. Or solar panels. Or Snorlax.”

“Wow really?” Razin turned to me feeling sorry. “I hope your head gets better. You should totally visit Sunyshore when the blue meanies let us out!”

I noticed a rolling stone behind him. “{I can remember my mom and ma and sis now though, so I remember some things.}”

Razin felt a little confused, but he nodded anyway. “Good. Remembering is good. Everytime something bad happens my dad tells me to think about the good times. Or I hold my mom’s hand.”

_ Everyone keeps saying that… are good times when you get cookies and watch pretty lights in the sky? _

Hazel looked away. “My mom used to say that too…”

_ Okay so saying stuff like that is bad for Hazel. _

The door hissed open again, Paris and Legolas being thrown in. Mabel and Haley rushed to help them out while the grunt person called out. “Phantump and trainer!”

Razin’s heart sank like a rock. He looked at Hazel and I with eyes filled with fear. “Does that mean… T-they want me and Urie…?” Urie, the Phantump, floated over to Razin and hugged him. “M-maybe if Urie floats away… maybe they won’t put us in the machine…”

Urie tried to move through the ground, but he couldn’t budge. He was stuck, just like the rest of us.

I could hear Leanne’s breath hitch, even without feeling her heart drop even worse than Razin’s.  _ He needs help. _ Mama noticed the look in my eyes and beckoned him closer. When he did, I hugged him tight before Leanne and his dad ran over and held him close and tight as well. He hugged everyone back as hard as he could, tears streaming down his face. All of his feelings were consumed by terror.

“I-I don’t wanna go. Please don’t make me go, mommy!” Razin buried his head into his parents’ arms. Urie looked around nervously, hoping the blue meanies would skip them.

Leanne held him closer. “I won’t.” She turned around, glaring at the grunts who were getting out Pokeballs. “I won’t make you go.” Yvonne’s wings buzzed as she flew a little into the air, narrowing her eyes at the grunts.

They threw them, a bunch of Pokemon I don’t really know the names of popping out. Some were green and purple moths, others were blue and black frogs, the rest were purple bats, but all of them were coming right at us. The grunts called them Dustox, Croagunk and Zubat.

Mama shielded me in her tails so I couldn’t really see what was going on, but I could hear shouting, buzzing, screaming and lots of yelling. Loud thumps and rushes of air filled the room and scattered about everywhere. A lot of the new Pokemon felt bad, and whenever any got close to me and Mama they felt… scared? And went away again. Part of me wanted to look at what was happening, but part of me… already knew.

Eventually Mama pressed her head into me a little. {It is over, my child.}

I peeked out of her tails, expecting to find lots of puddles. And… I didn’t. I looked around and Leanne and Yvonne were knocked out against a wall, her husband and the Glalie were asleep, the blue meanies and Pokemon were gone and…  _ so are Razin and Urie. _

I looked at the screen to see the blue meanies putting them in the machine, their eyes closed. I hugged Mama tight. “{Th-they’re gonna die, aren’t they?}”

She looked at me, surprise flaring in her heart before it sunk below the floor as she held me closer. {Oh, my child… I am so sorry…}

I watched the screen, part of me still hoping that he’d be okay as the machine hummed to life. That he’d live and come back and smile and talk more about whatever solar panels are. But as his body turned darker and darker, his legs fading away and him becoming see-through, small bits of his clothes ripping off and hardening in a ring around his head, that hope choked and died. Just like he did, and the two floated up into the ceiling while the machine began to wind down.

Everyone was quiet. I could hear Hazel crying and Vivian gently comforting her. I just looked around. There were a bunch of people like me, but also a lot of humans left. Every so often my eyes made contact with one, and I didn’t need to feel their emotions to know we were thinking the same thing.

_ Are they gonna survive? _

The room was deathly quiet, everyone needing some time to process, to mourn, to accept. But they didn’t give us that chance as one of the blue meanies was at the door hissing open again, Pokemon already out this time. “Blissey and trainer!”

Everyone looked to Mabel and Haley. They clearly shuddered a bit, Haley looking more nervous than I’d seen her, and Benny held them both close while Bors hugged them tight too. Mabel patted him gently on the back. “Hey. It’s okay. We’ve lived through this much. We’ll live through this.”

He just held him tighter, and they kissed quickly before Mabel and Haley walked out the door. Benny felt  _ awful _ , and just stood there with his fists clenched.  _ He looks scary, but… he isn’t. It’s just stuff like this that made him look scary, isn’t it? _

I waved a little at him a little. He noticed and hesitated before walking over, Bors right with him. He sat on the bed, and I gave him a hug. “{We… we gotta hope, right?}”

He looked at me, his eyes big and full of pain and sorrow, before he nodded, rubbing my back a bit like Rhea did. We watched the screen together.  _ I can’t do much, but me and Mama being here seems to help him a little at least. I can do that. _

Mabel… was actually doing okay. Their hair turned pink and the waves in their hair spiraled into big curls, but not too much happened other than that. We kept expecting something horrible to happen, for every new horrifying pulse from the machine to rip open their stomach or compress his limbs to nubs, but this time it didn’t. The machine just went quiet after far too long and the grunts took them both out.

Some people started cheering quietly. Other people were still stricken from Razin. Benny let out a huge breath while Bors hugged us tightly. I smiled at them both. “{They’re okay! It went okay!}”

He nodded, signing something to me. I didn’t understand what he said, but I could feel what his heart was saying.  _ They did. Thank you. _

After not too long, the door opened again and Mabel and Haley were thrown in. Bors and Benny nearly leaped off the bed, rushing over. One of the purple bats hissed, but neither of them paid them any mind. The two just ran over to Mabel and Haley and picked them up gingerly, bringing them both over to a bed they’d probably been sleeping on.

Meanwhile, the blue meanie spoke up. “Glalie and trainer!”

Leanne’s husband stiffened before I felt his heart drop, and he gave her a kiss on the forehead before he and the Glalie walked/floated out. He looked over at me and Mama, giving us a small, sad smile. I could feel though that he was terrified and distraught, but some part of him was…  _ glad? _

I looked at Mama after he walked out. “{Why did he feel glad?}”

She tilted her head, confusion written across her face before she responded. {He… likely is glad that his human partner does not need to see what will happen next, my child.}

When he was taken to the machine, he and the Glalie were asleep. They were both put in the middle of the platforms by the blue meanies before they ran off. Something in the back of my mind tugged at me, like that was familiar. But I didn’t have time to think about it.

As the machine whirred once more, the blue pulses of energy started cascading towards them both and locking them in place. Neither of them had woken up yet, but as the evil blasters lit up and fired, they both started screaming.

At first, nothing much happened. Then he slowly started getting… shorter? No, he wasn’t getting shorter. His limbs were being pressed into him. Meanwhile, his mouth was forcibly opened, the jaw tugging itself away from the rest of his skull, before it snapped off and fell to the floor of the platform. The blood coming from his mouth was soon matched by blood spurting out from all sides of him as he was crushed into a ball, thumping on the floor.

That thing that was rising in my throat before came back. I could almost taste… the gruel, Mabel said it was?  _ Calling it awful doesn’t fit. Awful is what that was. Awful is… _

I didn’t have the words.

The blue meanies ran back in the room, moving the motionless husband ball and Glalie out of the room before they started cleaning up. Ivane’s eyes narrowed. {And once again, the humans care not who falls for their own selfish desires,} she muttered to herself.

I just stayed with Mama while it was being cleaned. I didn’t have anything in my head anymore. I just kept seeing some people survive, and other people dying in ways I couldn’t imagine. The images of what had happened kept flashing through my mind. Some part of myself wasn’t… becoming  _ okay _ with it, but it was accepting what was happening.

Along with it, a fire started burning in me. Not like the one me and Mama used to keep ourselves warm, though. It was like the vengeful, furious fire I’d felt in Mama before. I was starting to understand what that fire was, and why she had it.

Eventually, the evil machine was clean again. Blue meanies stood at the door. “Bewear and trainer!”

Benny and Bors narrowed their eyes, having been tending to Mabel and Haley. Both were underneath a blanket, their heads on pillows. Benny had been holding Mabel’s hand, but once he was called he kissed Mabel on the forehead a lot like Leanne’s husband. As he and Bors were walking for the door, he glanced to me and waved. I waved too.

_ I don’t want that to be a goodbye wave. _

Benny’s time in the machine was a lot like Mabel’s. It started up and while his hair turned pink, with a few tufts on top, and white ears came out the top of his head? Nothing horrible happened. I kept expecting that his spine would come out his butt or something, and Mabel and Haley would wake up and they wouldn’t be around anymore, but that didn’t happen. The only other thing that happened was his muscles looked less pronounced, but after that the machine stopped slowly and the blue meanies started taking the two back to our room.

After they were thrown on the floor, some people went over to pick them up. Benny and Bors were brought to the bed with Mabel and Haley, and laid next to the pair. Mabel felt… calmer, in their sleep, after Benny was next to them.

Once the two had been tucked in, I looked to Mama. “{They’re gonna wake up… right?}”

She nodded gently. {Yes, my child. Fortunately, they just need time.}

“Razin…?”

We turned in unison, and our hearts sank. Leanne and Yvonne were slowly getting up, looking around. Yvonne’s wings buzzed slightly. “Razin… David?” Her breath hitched. “No… where are they? Where is my family!?”

Leanne looked us over, her eyes and heart begging for a clear answer. Praying that they had just gone to use the bathroom or talk to someone else. Paris was the first to speak up.

“Leanne…” Leanna gave Paris a broken look. Paris steeled herself, so she could give Leanne the answer she deserved. “Your family… their ‘fusion’ failed. They died in the mach-”

We didn’t get to hear the rest of what Paris said because Leanne had fallen onto the ground,  _ wailing _ with such a deep anguish I hadn’t known possible. Her cries filled the halls and the people far away tried to tune it out for their own sanity. Paris tried to lay a hand on Leanne, but she flinched away at the touch.

“I tried Razin… I wasn’t strong enough… David why…” Leanne curled into a ball, the grief and wounds becoming too physically overwhelming for her to cope. Yvonne was the only one who could be near her. Tears were in her face, but she curled around her and sang a quiet song in her ears.

She felt furious and distraught at the same time, and like both were fighting each other for what she should do. Her face was contorting and staying the same all at once, like she didn’t know if she should destroy the place or follow her family. 

Paris and Legolas went over to sit with her. They didn’t say anything, they just sat with her.  _ Kinda like I sat with Benny and Bors... _

It took them some time to console her, but I wanted to help. I looked at Mama. “{Can… can we go over?}”

Her eyes looked pained, but she slowly nodded. {I… yes. Yes, my child. We can.}

Mama helped me walk to them, my legs shaky and my tail moving to try and help. Except I had no idea how to help Leanne and Yvonne.  _ She just lost her family… how do you even help with that? _

She looked at me, tears streaming down her face and her eyes red. Her heart felt like it had burst, a dam overflowing with pain and sorrow. She needed a distraction. “Hey… kid. Where’re your parents? Are they…” She fell silent.

I shook my head. “{Mama’s right here.}” Mama nodded while I kept going. “{I… dunno where everyone else is. I can only kinda remember them, but they’re not here. We live in… Snowpoint?}” Mama nodded again.

Leanne was quiet before she held her arms open just a bit. I went to hug her, and she hugged me super tight. I could hear her heart thumping against her chest, the tears lingering on her face. “We’re gonna get you back to your family if it’s the last thing we fucking do.” She said in a whisper.

I just stayed quiet and kept hugging her. I could feel that Paris felt awful for both of us, but she also didn’t feel great herself. I looked at her concerned. “{Are you okay…?}”

She raised an eyebrow before giving a small, sad smile. “No, but don’t worry about me. I’m holding up.”

After a while, she spoke up again. “You should get back to resting. I’ll… stay with Leanne.”

I nodded, letting go. Leanne didn’t feel great, but she felt a little bit better than before. Yvonne did too, which was kinda weird given how I didn’t hug her?  _ Maybe she’s glad Leanne isn’t feeling as awful… _ She let me go, looking at me with sorrow and fear in her heart. Paris just put a hand on her shoulder and sat there with her.

I went back to Mama, who nuzzled me gently. {You are so very kind, my child.}

_ I don’t really think I am… I can’t help much.  _ But I held onto her all the same as we went back to our bed. While on the way there though, I noticed Guinevere. “{Mama? Can I ask her something?}”

{Of course, my child.} She said, helping me over to her. When she noticed us, she stopped brushing Hazel’s hair.

“What is it?”

I pointed at Leanne. “{You said you run a place for kids who lost their parents, right? Is there a parent orphanage? Like a Guinevere for adults?}”

She gave me a sad smile, Chestnut rubbing against me a bit kindly. “No, those are therapists. But please don’t push yourself, you need rest.”

My eyes were closing already, so I just nodded and leaned on Mama until we got back to our bed. I cuddled close to her, her wrapping her tails around the both of us as we fell asleep together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Entry Log:** _ With the aid of the Fusion Chambers, we are able to fuse Pokemon DNA into a human’s body, creating a Fused: a human with pokemon capabilities and characteristics. The extent seems to vary between each Pokemon as some fusions are more drastic than others.  _

_ The Fusion process has begun and is progressing smoothly. Everyone is following the protocol Leader orchestrated perfectly, reducing the chance of rebellion to lowest modicum.  _

_ Nonetheless, I have tasked the enforcers to always maintain close watch of the subjects in order to avoid unnecessary conflict. Even the most powerful Pokemon are currently too weakened to pose a nominal threat and it should remain that way. _

_ It appears the Fusion process does not function with Pokemon that are too distant from the humanoid figure. The process causes the human subject to quickly transform and perish due to inhospitable conditions. It seems ghost types also kill the subjects, except for Decidueye. Possibly due to the fact they were not born a ghost type and the body type is suitable and organic enough. _

_ Several subjects seem to have fallen ill likely due to stress. I’ll have to assign Doctor to address them soon enough. Interestingly enough 001 Kalolan Vulpix seems to be suffering to the greatest degree.  _

_ It seems the collar around their neck blocks too much of their abilities, to the point where they cannot even regulate their body temperature and maintain homeostasis. I was forced to loosen the grip on both her and Kalolan Ninetails. The others have been notified of the change. _

_ The younger test subjects seem to have retained the most Pokemon features from Fusion. 001 happens to be the youngest and most complete Fused of them all. I am prioritizing their survival as a key point of interest.  _

_ Oddly enough during the process their biological sex changed from male to female. While it is not unheard of for a Pokemon to change sex mid evolution (Ex: Azurill, Salandit, Combee) it is far from common. If we consider this a form of evolution, then it would not be remiss to say that this is the same situation. The Ninetails’ line 75% inclination towards females may be another cause. Further inquiry required. _

_ Although, another case where a human male became a female Fused Gallade occurred which has me to believe it is the human’s biology that plays a factor, whilst the Pokemon DNA activates the transition. I am currently looking into sex specific evolution and the deviances among them. _

_ I have just received new information and thus must end this entry criminally short. I will continue with further analysis at a later point. _

**Author’s Note:** Well this is a hell of a start, huh? It may not be much of a surprise, but this was a difficult chapter to write. Beginnings are hard enough when they don’t start at like, the worst possible point. If that turned you off from the story, that’s fair. But if it didn’t, and you wanna see where this goes… well, I’ve got loads planned. And I hope you enjoy. In future chapters I’ll ask questions, but for right now? I think you probably have enough questions as is. So I’ll just say ‘till next time.

~Co-writer here and author of the brother story  _ Hybrid: Topaz Edition _ ! Totally different, equally enjoyable. Hope you love hurt/comfort fics because  _ Hybrid: Aurora Edition _ has more to come!


	2. Chapter 2: A Sense of Self

**AN:** “”: English; {}: Pokespeak; “{}”: English + Pokespeak

_ Quite the start to one’s life, no? To not know where you are, when it is, what’s happening, why it’s happening or who’s doing it? The five primary question categories all being forced upon this girl in the first few days of her life. To be taken from her home, torn of memories and forced to watch others die around her. You would expect such a situation to break a person, would you not? Will that happen here? Well, that’s what we’re all here to find out isn’t it? So don’t let me keep you any longer. _

**_~~???, Year 8520, Damidar, ???~~_ **

Me and Mama were eating frozen… gruel?  _ I think that’s what Mabel said it was? _ We were eating that because otherwise we were gonna starve to death. And the blue meanies don’t seem to like life, so not doing what they want is good. I still wasn’t feeling good at all, and that wasn’t helped at all by how people kept dying, but my body wasn’t getting worse. My heart… was.

{My child,} Mama said quickly, {People are approaching.}

I looked up to see four people, two like me and two Pokemon. The first Pokemon was tall and walked on two white legs, with a blue crest and red… thingy going through his chest. His upper body was green, and so was his kinda helmet-hair sorta thing and his elbows had rounded bits that went past his upper arm.

The other Pokemon… felt different. She had a crest too, but it was white and split into three prongs. She had ears kinda like me that were red inside, but it looked like her nose was metal. Lots of white fur went around her head to their body, which was black and had green kinda bird feet in front. Then black paws like Mama had in back and a tail like… something that lived in the water? I couldn’t remember. She was also  _ huge _ . Like, bigger than any of the other three  _ easily _ sorta huge.

The lady with the first Pokemon had green hair for the most part that framed her face, but with some blue hair that spiked up in a crest kinda like her partner. She had red eyes, a black hoodie with lots of colored stains on it, dark blue pants and brown boots. All of which were kinda messed up, as I was starting to learn everyone’s clothes were.

The guy with the second had a crest like his partner and white hair that went down past his shoulders, and his ears were like mine and his partner. His outfit was mostly black or gray, with gray pants and a gray jacket plus a black shirt. He had brown boots that looked ready to go over… something. My head got fuzzy when I tried to remember what.

I looked at Mama curiously. “{What kinda Pokemon are they?}”

{The bipedal one is a Gallade, and the quadruped…} She paused. {I must admit, I have not seen them before. I do not know.}

She was eyeing them all, but she seemed less wary of the Pokemon she didn’t know. Which I understood, they felt… similar, somehow. She then spoke up, while her partner started talking to Mama. {Hello, young one. We don’t mean to startle you, we only wanted to check that you are alright.} 

She inclined her head a little. {I am Elpis,} She gestured to her partner person, {And that is Clive. The two with us are Lucia and Arden, the one like us and Gallade, respectively.}

I tilted my head. “{Like us? And why didja wanna see us? Mabel already said I’m sick…}”

She shook her head. {Not quite like that. You are sick, yes, but that will go away. We’re just concerned that the things that likely won’t fade will harm you.}

Mama looked over at her when she said that, her eyes narrowing. {I suggest you cease dancing around the subject and speak plainly.}

Arden bowed. {Forgive us, but it  _ is _ a sensitive subject. Clive and Elpis are familiar with origins of places such as…  _ these _ ,} he said with venom dripping from the last few words, {While myself and Lucia are more privy to who you are and what you are not quite matching up. In the sense of gender specifically.}

_ He just said a lot of words and I know what most of them mean, but I have no idea what he just said. _

Mama relaxed though and felt much calmer, so clearly whatever he said made sense to her. {Ah, I understand. That is reasonable.} She looked at me. {I do not believe there is anything to be afraid of with this group, my child.}

I nodded, but looked at Arden still  _ very _ confused. “{What do you mean about things not matching and gender? And coming from places like this?}”

He paused a moment, feeling thoughtful and hesitant at the same time. {From what we were able to see, your body was… different, before gaining your Vulpix aspects, and not simply in lacking those. We just wanted to make certain that is alright, and to help you if it is not.}

My head felt  _ very _ fuzzy to most of what he was saying, but something felt less fuzzy.  _ That dream memory thingy before… the one about me saying my name and that I’m a she/her? I never got to ask Mama about it… is this like that? _

“{Mama…?}” I started slowly. “{I… remembered something, about watching auroras with everyone and saying that Aurora was gonna be my name, and I’m a she/her? Is that what he means?}”

I felt Lucia and Arden relax  _ considerably _ and even feel kinda  _ happy _ as Mama nodded. {Yes, my child. Many things seem to have changed, but I would say they have changed more to match who you are than anything else.} She smiled and nuzzled her snout into my chest. {As you are my wonderful little one, and that has not changed at all.}

I smiled and hugged her, and Elpis felt a bit calmer too. {I take that to mean that what I’ve heard is true?}

I gave Elpis a weird look, and she elaborated. {I have heard that you did not remember much, and that you had fallen ill. However, I  _ also _ heard that you have no issues with your Vulpix aspects. Is this true?}

I took a second before I responded, something deep in my soul making itself known. “{I mean… I’m me. That’s all I gotta be, right?}”

A wide smile broke across her face, Clive smiling as well. {Yes. Yes, that is absolutely right. And you will have your chance to be you outside of this horrible place.} She looked down at Clive. {And someone very dear to me has taught me that simply being you will make the world a better place.} 

Clive smiled wider as Elpis looked back at me and continued. {Living as yourself may not ever be the easiest thing to do, but it’s very important and much better than living as someone or something you’re not.}

The same place in my soul resonated with what she said.  _ I dunno why, but… I feel like Mom and Ma told me this. Like I figured this out before. Since they’re nice, that means these people are nice too, right? And Elpis feels… like she gets it. I dunno how, but it feels like she knows what I mean. _

I looked at her curiously. “{What kinda Pokemon are you? Mama doesn’t know and I dunno, so…?}”

She chuckled. {That’s not surprising. From what I’m aware, there isn’t an official name yet. But Clive suggested the name Silvally, and I’m partial to it myself.}

_ Silvally… So she’s like me? From a place like this?  _ I shuddered.  _ And now she’s back in one again… _

Next I looked up at Clive. “{How’d you meet?}”

He smiled a bit and sat on the bed across from us, Lucia and Arden following suit. Elpis just laid down on the ground, but was easily on the same height anyway. “I’m a photographer. Usually I take pictures of nature and Pokemon, but a while ago I got told that something was happening at the Aether Foundation.” He smiled. “I have a bit of a streak for taking pictures of bad guys, and friends who point me in the right direction to continue that streak. I asked to be let in to take pictures of the place for an article, and they complied. I took pictures and talked them into letting me capture some of their ‘process’.”

He rubbed Elpis’ back a little. “After that, I excused myself to use the restroom, took a few turns that weren’t headed to the restroom and poked around. And I found where she and her siblings were being held.”

_ Siblings? _

“I only managed to break Elpis out, and they’ve tightened up security since then. But I’ve been happy to take her around the world, showing her all the places I take my pictures.” He smiled at me. “I’d be happy to take you too when we get out of here.”

Elpis nodded in agreement. {I look forward to the day we can all traverse this world together.}

Mama gave Lucia and Arden a look. {And how precisely did you come to be this group?}

Lucia shook her head. “Well, we didn’t know the other existed before… all  _ this, _ ” she said, gesturing to the room we were held in. “But I’m trans, so is Arden and it turns out there’s more overlap between the challenges we and Elpis go through than I thought. As for Clive, I’m certain you can see the paint stains on my clothes. So we bonded over pictures and, well, here we are. Making sure that your daughter’s okay.”

Mama smiled afterwards. {I know of your craft. One of my child’s human mothers is a painter herself. She-}

There was an ominous whine over from the screen again. We looked over, our worry founded. There was a man across from an Electrode, their body sparking before they began to inflate like a balloon. Parts of his skin tore open before he exploded, splattering a fine red mist across everything. The Electrode quickly followed suit, ending up as a blackened husk.

I shivered and hid in Mama’s tails. Elpis growled at the sight, but said nothing. Lucia and Arden though both looked  _ livid _ , glaring at the screen with unbridled rage that felt akin to Elpis’. “Bastards. They  _ can’t _ understand how damaging this is. Forcibly changing people’s bodies. Treating it like it’s just a grade school science project…”

Arden crossed his arms, the blades on his elbows unsheathing and retracting slightly. {And they remain behind a curtain through it all. Refusing to look those whose lives they mutilate in the eye.}

They didn’t really say much after that, but I could feel that a hate-filled flame not unlike Mama’s burned in all their hearts.  _ All this because some people… what  _ **_do_ ** _ they even want? Why are they doing any of this? Just to hurt people? They’re just killing people because they feel like it? _

Even after they left to go talk to the other adults, Mama noticed my expression. {What is it, my child?}

My tail lashed a bit. “{They’re just hurting and killing people? For no reason? Why would you  _ do _ that?}”

Her eyes narrowed as she nodded. {I understand. I doubt it is for no reason, but I see no circumstance in which any reason they have justifies  _ any _ of this. Humans have a tendency to believe their way of thought is the best, and ignore others in favor of their impetuous goals.} She growled, her chest rumbling. {Ironic, given how many of them view the world the same selfish way.}

I didn’t have the energy to stay angry for too long, and pretty quickly was about to fall asleep again. Mama stayed with me the whole time, but the thought kept racing through my mind.  _ They just keep hurting people and don’t seem like they care at all. It’s like they  _ **_want_ ** _ all this. _

Leanne and Yvonne were across the room, staying with Paris, Legolas, Benny, Mabel, Haley and Bors. Even from here I could feel how distraught she was.  _ And what they leave is so many people hurting… _

Sickness and exhaustion won out eventually, but the smoldering anger didn’t go away.

**_~~Snowpoint, Year 8518, Shamiya, Noxel 6th~~_ **

_ I walked into the room, Mom at her easel and looking out the window sometimes while she was painting. Outside there were Frosmoth and Delibird in the sky, while Swinub and Snorunt trudged through the snow. The sun shone bright, heralding the end of winter was coming soon. In the distance, Snover walked amongst the trees. She kept going until she heard the door open and looked at me, anyway. _

_ “%*#/@&? What is it?” She patted a cushioned wooden seat next to her and I walked over, sitting next to her. _

_ She was painting a really pretty picture, with a lady holding some curved stick and a string between both ends wearing a white hood. It looked like it faded into the snow around her, her eyes shining like the moon and the stars dotting the sky above the snow capped trees. A white Pokemon with a dark grey curved horn stood beside her, piercing red eyes gazing across the landscape. _

_ “Mom? What kinda Pokemon is that?” _

_ She looked at her painting. “Oh, this? That’s an Absol, sweetheart. I noticed you and your sister took a liking to that Artemis story, so I decided to draw her and her partner.” _

_ My eyes were wide with wonder looking at it before I shook my head, Ivane having looked up from her nap to listen. “Mom? I… uh…” _

_ She looked at me worried, setting down her paintbrush. “What’s wrong?” _

_ I shook my head again. “I… dunno? I… how do you…?” _

_ She put her hand on my shoulder. “It’s alright. Take all the time you need.” _

_ I nodded this time, looking out the window before I looked up at Mom. “I was playing with some of the other kids outside, and they said how boys and girls were different? And I don’t really know what that means, but you and Ma and sis all use she and even though you use he with me, it just… doesn’t feel right?” I hugged her, worried. “Is that bad…?” _

_ She stroked my hair gently. “Of course not. You’re saying you don’t want to be a he? Would you rather we called you she instead?” _

_ I felt a warm, tingly feeling in my chest before I nodded. “Yeah… yeah, I would.” _

_ She smiled, holding me close. “Then we’ll call you she. Is it okay if we still call you @*^%!) for now? Only until you don’t want us to, of course.” _

_ I hugged her tighter. “Yeah. You can change your name too?” _

_ Mom rubbed my back gently. “Of course. Names are important. And if it’s going to be your name, it’s important you like it the most. So if you don’t, you change it to something you do. Lots of trans people do that.” _

_ I looked up at her curiously. “Am I a trans?” _

_ She chuckled. “It’s ‘am I trans’, sweetheart. And that depends on if you want to call yourself trans.” _

_ I thought for a moment. “Like how you and Ma say you’re lesbians?” _

_ She nodded again. “Like that. It’s a word, but that word isn’t important unless you want it to be. At the same time though, you can’t call anything, anything.” _

_ I screwed up my face, confused as she smiled. “You can call an apple a fruit, but calling an apple an orange wouldn’t be right, would it?” _

_ I shook my head. “No, that’s weird!” _

_ She laughed a bit. “A little, yes. So use whatever word feels right. And if you don’t know, don’t be afraid to ask.” _

_ I hugged her. “Okay Mom!” _

_ I was about to leave before she put a hand on my shoulder gently, and I turned around. “What is it?” _

_ She looked at me, full of warmth and love. “I just want you to know that we’re always going to love you. No matter what.” _

**_~~???, Year 8520, Damidar, ???~~_ **

The next day, I got the chance to tell Mama about the dreams I’d had. She was very happy to hear that I’d remembered more, since apparently those memories were super important ones. They felt like it too, so I was glad about that.   
I didn’t feel any better physically though. I dunno how long it’d been, but I still felt awful. My headache hadn’t gone away, and apparently the pills that they gave us wouldn’t actually help me. The cough drops helped my throat, but only for a while. I was still mostly staying with Mama. She helped make sure I wasn’t too hot or too cold.

After a while where I was tired but couldn’t sleep, my ears perked up. Hazel and Vivian were coming by with two other people. One of them was someone like me, with blue ears coming off the top of his head and a big poofy white tail that had a blue stripe down the middle. His hair was short and bone white with light blue streaks in it, and he felt like he was around Hazel’s age but looked more like my age. He had light blue sneakers, darker blue shorts, a white t-shirt with a blue lightning bolt and a big smile.

The partner Pokemon with him was a small squirrel with a tail and ears like him, but with yellow round cheeks and buck teeth. He was sitting on the guy’s shoulder, smiling, but I could feel he was skittish.  _ Definitely about everything that’s been going on… _

Hazel still felt distraught, but a little bit better than before. She sat on our bed, Vivian hopping up next to her and nodding at Mama, who nodded back. “Hey Aurora… how are you feeling?”

I just coughed and stuck out my tongue as a response, and she nodded sadly. “I figured… so I came to give you some company, and Ron wanted to come say hello. So…”

She gestured to him, and he waved excitedly. “Hey! I’m Ron and this is Rush!” He plopped onto the bed, but I could feel that he knew what was going on.  _ Why’s he pretending then though? Unless… maybe it’s like how Paris said something Mabel already knew? To distract them and help them feel a little bit better? _

Rush meanwhile hopped down onto the bed lightly, looking at me worried. {Are you doing any better than before?}

I shook my head again. Hazel looked worried as well, and Vivian was staying curled up on her lap. Ron looked between us both before smiling. “What’re your favorite foods?”

We all looked at him. “What? You’ve gotta have a favorite food, right? Mine is lo mein, what’s yours?”

_ What? _

Hazel and Vivian seemed similarly confuddled, but Mama just smiled. {I am partial to lightly roasted Yache berries, myself.}

His eyes lit up. “I’ve never tried that! What’s it like?”

Her tails flicked lightly. {I believe it is similar to what humans call ice cream? Except much more flavorful, though humans seem unable to register its taste. Nonetheless, lightly roasting them adds a subtle smoke taste to them that compliments them perfectly.}

His mouth had begun watering at her description. Hazel looked thoughtful before responding herself. “I… guess I always loved sushi. It’s simple and not too filling, and there’s plenty of different kinds as well.” A small smile crossed her face. “And Vivian’s always seemed to like it as well.”

Vivian nuzzled into her. {Yeah, I do. I like it best with berries, though. A mix of Bluk, Kelpsy and Pamtre berries are great too.} She looked up at her partner. {Can we get some eventually, do you think?}

Hazel nodded, hugging her tight. “Of course. I’d be glad to.”

Ron’s eyes were practically bowls of food themselves, with how obvious it was that that’s what was going through his head.  _ I didn’t know food could be an emotion. _

He looked at me, smiling. Then, once he got the images of berries and bowls of food out his eyes, he actually saw me. “There’s plenty of stuff you have to look forward to! There’s so many kinds of foods out there and part of the fun is trying so many of them! It’s like a whole world that you get when you put things in your mouth!”

Rush sighed. {Sometimes I have to make sure he doesn’t try to see what  _ everything _ tastes like.} I could tell though that he was a bit more relaxed now, and more poking fun than anything. He didn’t feel upset at all, just sorta exasperated and happy.  _ Probably remembering things. _

“I don’t mean to rain on your parade,” Mabel said, holding several bowls along with Haley while they walked towards us, “But here’s the food we’ve got.”

Ron made a face before glancing back at me. “And you  _ don’t _ have to eat this kinda stuff outside. Tree bark tastes better. Trust me.”

I nodded, taking my bowl while Ivane freezed it.  _ I think a whole lotta stuff tastes better than this. I accidentally woke up with our blanket in my mouth and it tasted better than this stuff. _

While we were eating, Ron looked at Rush. “Sorry buddy, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when I said we’d give everything a try.”

Rush just waved him off. {I know, don’t worry about it. Besides, it just means this is one less thing to try later.}   
The two chuckled, with Rush noticing how I was looking at them curiously. {When we met, I was trying to find food around Sunyshore. I thought he was gonna catch me when he walked up, but he just pointed out where some good berry bushes were. We got to talking, and while going out and trying loads of different foods isn’t exactly complex? It’s a nice way to have an adventure every day. Even if just a little one.}

Ron nodded happily while Hazel looked thoughtful. “I remember how Grandma gave me Vivian’s egg to hatch. I took care of it all the time until she came out.”

Vivian smiled up at her. {I still vaguely remember some of the stories you read to me while I was still in the egg. Thanks for taking such good care of me.}

I looked at Mama, confused. She noticed and nuzzled me between my ears. {They are talking about meeting their starter Pokemon, my child. Whatever Pokemon a human bonds with first is usually called their starter. The primary reason we do not call them starter humans in return is simply that Pokemon rarely have a team of humans at their beck and call.}

I nodded slowly while Ron kept smiling. “Lots of people do lots of things! There’s Contests where humans and Pokemon try to be all showy, cooking competitions, of course there’s the gyms and badges, the Pokeathlon, lots of things!”

Mama chuckled at how my ears were tilted back while I was just trying to make sense of everything. {The Pokeathlon is a competition between Pokemon, my child. One in which they strive to be the best at various athletic achievements. Swimming, running, leaping, and so on. Gyms are one of the main ways humans govern, through Pokemon battling one another. Those who run said gyms are called Leaders, and they give out badges to the humans whose teams of Pokemon are capable of surmounting specific challenges.}

_ Wait, what? _ “{But… but the humans don’t fight, right?}”

{They do not, my child.}

“{Then why do they get the badge? Shouldn’t the Pokemon get the badges? They did all the work!}” I started coughing, but I kept going once it stopped. “{Why don’t the Pokemon run things instead if they’re the ones doing everything?}”

Mama just breathed calmly. {Because of Pokeballs, my child.}

I went silent after that, thinking.  _ So it’s just because humans have Pokeballs that they get to make the rules? That’s stupid! What if Pokemon had Humballs, would Pokemon be running things and humans would fight each other? Just because you can throw a colorful ball doesn’t mean you’re better or anything at all! It just means you have thumbs and arms. _

While I was thinking and the other four were talking, a girl walked up to us. She had orange hair with a few black streaks through it, looked around my and Hazel’s age and even though her clothes were a simple tattered t-shirt and pants, she looked hopeful and curious all the same. “What’re you talking about?”

Ron looked over. “What you can do outside and food! Why?”

She smiled. “You just looked nice, and I wanted to see what’s going on.”

Ron was about to respond before a girl yelled over. She was sitting with an orange and white wolf with black ends to their fur that looked almost solid. “Hey, Koko! C’mere, you know it’s not safe.”

The girl, apparently named Koko, nodded and waved at us. “Sorry, see you later!” She ran back to the girl and wolf, smiling happily and sitting with her.   
I was gonna listen, but Ron interrupted. “That was weird. Why doesn’t she want her over here?”

Mama just closed her eyes. {They are not between Pokemon and human yet, young one. The older one likely recognizes that the time they have together has every potential to be limited, and wishes to spend as much time with her as she can.}

We all nodded slowly. Conversation picked up between the other four, but I started going to sleep again. Mama made sure they knew and left so I could sleep in peace, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what she said.

_ I hope they make it through okay… It’s not fair for what happened to Leanne and Yvonne to happen to anyone else. But… we can’t do much. All we can do is hope and figure out what to do when it happens. _

**_~~???, Year 8520, Damidar, ???~~_ **

Next time I woke up, I was silent for a while. Mama nuzzled me gently. {My child? What is wrong?}

I shuddered. “{Are… Are Leanne and Yvonne okay?}”

Mama looked out at something before looking back at me. {I do not know if their turmoil has calmed, my child, but the duo are with the wolf and two girls from yesterday. Would you like to go talk to them?}

I nodded, and Mama’s tails unfurled from around me as I got up slowly. I was leaning on her as I walked, Leanne noticing us coming and making room on the bed she was sitting on.

_ There’s… more empty beds than there were before… _

Mama lifted me onto the bed before leaping up onto it after me, keeping me close in her tails. She did leave space for Leanne to put her hand on my back, though. “Hey kid,” she said gently, “How’re you holding up?”

I just shivered and stayed in Mama’s tails. I couldn’t make myself as warm as I wanted without the collar shocking me, so I stayed in Mama’s tails. That helped keep me warm. She just nodded sadly. “Sorry to hear…”

The girl who came up yesterday, Koko, smiled at me. “It’s okay, you’ll get better soon! I know you will!”

The wolf was laying on the bed, watching us all. The other girl I could see more of now that I was closer. She had the opposite of Koko’s hair; pitch black with orange streaks through it. It was really mussy, and she wore a dark orange jacket with a black undershirt and pants, along with combat boots. She  _ looked _ angry, but she felt… worried. Scared. Anxious. Angry too, but it wasn’t the main emotion at all.

_ She’s putting on a face… Humans do that to make each other feel better? That doesn’t make sense though, why wouldn’t you show what you’re feeling? Wouldn’t it help everyone if you showed what you were feeling? That way people can help, right? _

“Koko…” she said slowly, glancing to Leanne.

Leanne just shook her head. “It’s okay, don’t worry.”

The girl’s face hardened. “They’re  _ watching _ her though, what if-”

“That’s not her fault,” Leanne interrupted. “She’s just as much a victim of this as any of us.  _ More, _ than some of us, I’d say.”

I looked at Leanne, nervous to ask. She noticed though. “What’s wrong?”

My tail curled up tighter, and my ears flattened. “{Are… Are you family? Are you okay now…?}”

I felt a deep sadness and pain welling up in her heart as she shook her head, Yvonne curling her tail around her. “No, we’re not family. I’m just… looking out for them. They’re sisters. And…” She hid her face. I heard something fall from her face, though. “I’m…” She took a deep, shaky breath before exhaling. It was less shaky as it came out and she looked at me, her eyes wet. “I’m alive. It’s… what they would’ve wanted.”

I nodded slowly.  _ She feels… still really upset. Better than before, but still… Razin was right. She’s the strongest to get through that… _

The girl had been watching us the whole time, the apprehension ebbing from her. The wolf with her gazed up at her. {Go on. These are good people.}

The girl still felt hesitant and paused for a long while before nodding, then looking at me and Mama. “You’ve met Koko. I’m Eclipse.” She put a hand on the wolf’s head. “This is Yuna. She’s a Lycanroc, if ya don’t know.”

Yuna inclined her head towards us. {A pleasure to meet you both. I’ve heard interesting things, elder fox and twinling kit.}

Ivane eyed her warily. {And what would those  _ interesting _ things be, stone wolf?}

Her eyes softened. {Precious little, but interesting all the same. How you two are familial in a unique way, for one.}

I could feel my eyes starting to cross trying to work out what they meant, so I looked at Eclipse instead. “{Nice to meet you Eclipse, Yuna.}”

Eclipse nodded slowly. “You’re Aurora, right?” I nodded, and she chuckled. “Funny, both our names relate to dark things.”

One of my ears flattened and she elaborated. “Our parents named me after an eclipse, since ‘there’s always a light even in the darkest hour’ or something like that.” She grimaced. “Fat lot of good that’s doing me in this shithole…” she muttered.

Leanne put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s a nice name.”

I just looked at Eclipse and Koko.  _ Are their parents okay? Do they have parents? But… Hazel doesn’t like her mom being mentioned… if their parents are gone, it’d be bad to mention them right? And I don’t wanna make them sad… _

“It’s alright Eclipse, you’re more than just a name! You’re my big sis and we’ll be alright if we all stay together! Yuna is here at least!” Koko tried to be optimistic. “I hope everyone else is okay...”

_ Everyone else? _

Apparently Eclipse noticed my look and growled to herself. “Adrestia and Delar, the Shroomish and Croagunk who’re also our team. They were with us, but Galactic took ‘em.” She glanced over. “I’m glad Yuna’s here, but…”

I could feel the hate in Mama smolder some more, but for now she didn’t say anything. Leanne though gently rubbed her back and held out an arm to Koko, who quickly went in for a hug.

“Do you have other pokemon friends too, Leanne?” Koko asked. 

She shook her head. “It’s just been me and Yvonne. Trapinch don’t evolve all that fast, and I knew we could make it through together.” She smiled at Yvonne sadly, who leaned in closer.

The door hissed open again. “Lycanroc and younger girl!”

Eclipse gave them an odd look, since they were totally across the room from us. “The fuck? I’m not younger, not compared to a buncha the people here.”

Eclipse was confused, but Koko slowly turned to Yuna who returned the stare. They both knew what the voice meant. Yuna went over to nuzzle Koko and she hugged her snout. “Eclipse…”

She looked down at Koko as realization dawned on her. I felt loads of things running through her; surprise, rage, horror, anxiety, sadness and other things I didn’t have words for. She clenched one of her fists tightly, breathing in slowly before hugging the both of them. “You’ll be fine. It’s okay. It’s gonna be aight. You’ll both come back and it’ll be okay.”

She was saying it to them just as much as she was saying it to herself. Koko held Eclipse’s shaking hands and smiled, but both of them were shaking.

“We’ll be right back.” Eclipse knelt down to hug Koko and Yuna. The voice called for them again and Koko had to pry herself off of Eclipse so she could leave. She turned to Yuna and took a deep breath, but she was shaking even worse than Razin. “Okay Yuna… let’s go.”

Yuna nodded, nuzzling Eclipse. {I know you can’t understand me, but just in case… thank you.} I felt something in Eclipse, like she kinda got it but not really. She hugged Yuna tight before letting her go, though she had to force herself to.

“You go and let ‘em know there’s nobody else like you. Aight?”

Yuna nodded again and licked Eclipse’s cheek before walking away with Koko. They walked out the door, past the blue meanie as the door shut.   
Eclipse was still shaking and it seemed to be getting worse the whole time. Yvonne stood up slightly, buzzing her wings to create a small song while Leanne gently pulled her over to sit with her. “Like you said. It’s gonna be okay.”

“...sure.”

We watched as the two were put in the same machine as everyone else was. I could feel Eclipse was about ready to punch the screen if something started happening.

_ If they die. _

As the machine slowly hummed to life, filling the room with the same horrible noise it had before, I noticed Leanne’s hand was shaking as well. I gently reached out and held it. She started, looking at me in surprise before her eyes began to water. She just mouthed a ‘thank you’ before looking back to the screen.

We watched, waiting for something horrible to happen again. Koko’s ears melded into her head with new ones popping out on top. I felt the side of my head, since even though I knew that wasn’t where I was hearing from? The idea of having ears there was still… weird.

A tail came out of her pants, kinda like mine but tan and a lot fluffier. Her hair lost its color slowly, turning white with tan streaks and specks of a blackish brown. The longer it went on, the more we all started to calm down.

And then…

Nothing happened.

The machine slowly stopped, both of them looking… not  _ okay _ , but not super messed up either. Not dead.

Some of the blue meanies went over and took out Koko, but not Yuna. Eclipse stood up suddenly. “Hey, the hell! She’s supposed to-”

There was another blue meanie at the door. “Lycanroc trainer!”

She glanced over. She felt… not afraid like she was before. She wasn’t afraid of if  _ she _ was gonna die at all, or if Koko or Yuna were alive. She felt… more afraid as to what was gonna happen in general.

“I… I gotta go.”

Leanne nodded as Eclipse sprinted to the door. By the time she got there though, Koko was being brought back in. She skidded to a stop, reaching out for her, before one of the blue meanies grabbed her and pulled her through the door as another threw Koko. “Hey-!”

The door slammed shut, Koko still midair. Leanne started to get up, but Guinevere and Chestnut were there to catch her and bring her back over to us. She gently tucked Koko in, looking at us concerned. “Would you mind…?”

Leanne shook her head, as did Mama. She sat down, Chestnut curling up on her lap and looking at the screen again. We were all worried for what would happen now.  _ We dunno what’s gonna happen to Yuna… _

And neither did Eclipse, clearly, from how quickly she’d run over. Now though she was asleep, just like everyone else who was put in the machine. Yuna looked like she was starting to wake up a little, but the tall lady with a black dress and lots of white bows from before just made her eyes glow and she fell asleep again.

They all moved away, and the machine turned on again. The electricity began to light up the room again, and we watched for what would happen to them both. The same thing with Koko’s ears happened to Eclipse, but she didn’t get a tail at all. Her hair turned white as well, curving up above her head with a black end at the furthest forwards lock and several other random locks of hair getting the same black tips.

It looked a lot more… painful for them both than before. They were both spasming, their mouths open but no noise coming out. I shuddered, remembering what that felt like for me. Mama nuzzled me gently while Leanne gave my hand a small squeeze.

_ I hope it’s better for them than it was for me… _

After what must’ve felt like an agonizingly long time for them, even though it wasn’t super long, the machine powered down again. We all held our breath for if Yuna would be taken out as well along with Eclipse.

We all let out a breath when she was. Mabel, Haley, Benny and Bors had already gotten ready to take them and help them however they could. Once they were thrown in, I was too focused on Eclipse and Yuna to hear who got called next.

Eclipse looked kinda like Leanne had before, but Yuna looked… bad. Her breathing was labored and she looked a lot worse off than I’d seen anyone’s partner Pokemon be before.

{And once more, the humans push the boundaries of what they can do with no regard to those in their wake,} Mama said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I shivered. “{Is she dead…?}”

Mama hesitated before she shook her head. {Not at the moment, my child. I hope it stays that way.}

I was getting cold and the world was starting to spin, so I began drifting in and out of consciousness. Normally I would’ve just gone to sleep, but I didn’t feel great and something in me didn’t want to sleep. Not yet. Not until I saw all three of them wake up and they were okay. Mama made sure to keep her tails around me and kept me warm, while Leanne and Yvonne sat with us. Guinevere couldn’t stay around all the time, she was helping other kids too, but she made sure we got an extra blanket.

One of the times I was kinda awake, my vision still sorta blurry, I noticed the fuzzy shape where Koko was starting to move. I rubbed my eyes to see that she was shifting, slowly waking up.  _ And hopefully not feeling as bad as I am. _

“{Are you okay?}”

She got up groggily and shook her head. “Where… oh.” She had a confused look on her face, but once she saw everything else around us her mood soured, until concern flared up. “Is Yuna alright!?”

Yuna was lying ominously still, except for when you  _ really _ looked for it her chest moved up and down slightly. Mama looked at Koko. {For now. She was put through the machine twice, once with you and once with Eclipse. It… seems to have taken a heavy toll.}

{I can understand you… wait. Twice? Eclipse!?} Koko looked around and found her sister unconscious too, lying next to her. Her heart was trying to decide on which feeling to land on, but in the end she landed on relief. “{They’re both alive… that’s what’s most important,}” 

She exhaled slowly before turning to us. “{Thanks for looking out for us and I’m okay now. I feel a bit woozy and my ears really sting-}” Koko went up to touch the side of her head where her ears  _ had  _ been. She did a bit of feeling around until she found her new ears at the top of her head. “{ _ Ouch _ , they moved and my tailbone aches- because there’s a tail there.}”

Koko swished her tail around a few times experimentally. “{Hehe, it’s fluffy just like Yuna’s.}” 

Mama smiled at her. {You have taken to an extra appendage quite quickly.}

“{I’ve always wanted superpowers ever since I saw Sailor Moon! I’m not  _ exactly  _ a magical girl and I think all of this is a bit too tragic for my heroine backstory, but at least Eclipse and I look like Yuna now…}” Koko stroked Yuna’s head solemnly. “{Can Haley fix her?}”

My ears perked up and I looked at Mama. {I do not see any reason why she cannot.}

She then looked up to Leanne, who chuckled lightly. “Whole ass daisy chain of lookin’ here. I’ll go get ‘em.”

She got up, Yvonne following her while I looked back at Koko. “{Is your head fuzzy…? Or you feel like coughing or anything?}”

Koko rubbed at her neck where the collar was. “{Everything stings a lot and I think the collar got even tighter. It’s uncomfortable.}”

I nodded a little.  _ She doesn’t seem like she’s as bad off as me though… So that’s good? I think? Probably? Maybe pain now is better than pain later, who knows with this place. _

“{Can you feel things too?}”

“{Feel things?}” Koko started squinting at me and I could sense she was beginning to get what I meant. “{...a little bit.}”

Leanne and Yvonne came back with Mabel and Haley after that. They smiled at Koko. “I’m glad you’re awake. Anything I can do?” Meanwhile Haley took out an egg from her pouch and nestled it with Yuna.

“{Everything stings and the collar hurts more now. When does that stop?}”

I could feel Mabel’s heart drop, but they kept their face in a sad smile. “Well… not any quicker than the rest of us, at least. Hopefully soon?”

With that cheery reminder of how utterly awful everything was at the moment, we stayed mostly silent while waiting for Eclipse and Yuna to wake up.  _ Mostly so far the not-Pokemon and Pokemon have woken up at around the same time, but Yuna went through twice… is she gonna wake up at all? _

I was starting to fade in and out of consciousness again when Eclipse started moving like Koko did. Not Yuna though. She sat up slowly, holding her head. “Wow that’s a headache I’ve not had in ages…” It took only a second more before alarm flared in her heart and she looked around wildly, noticing Koko and that alarm calming a lot. “Oh thank fuck, Koko, you-”

She then noticed Yuna.

The alarm came right back as she picked her up gently, holding her head in her arms. “Hey… Yuna? C’mon, wake up girl…”

There was no response.

I could feel desperation starting to bubble up inside her as she shook Yuna gently. “C’mon… now’s not the time for joking around. You’ve gotta be okay…”

She kept holding Yuna, everyone extremely on edge and Koko just as worried while Eclipse kept speaking softly to Yuna. Part of me was ready to accept that more death was happening, but another part of me felt like punching that part and saying no, it’s fine, she’s gonna be okay. She  _ had _ to be.

Several minutes passed, Eclipse holding her the whole time.

Until finally, Yuna opened her eyes and looked up at Eclipse. Her eyes had begun watering, but she wiped them away when Yuna looked at her. “You’re okay…! Of course you’re okay, you’re fuckin’  _ strong _ .” I could feel she was saying that to calm Yuna just as much as herself.

Yuna gave a soft laugh as Mabel picked up the egg Haley had given and held it to Eclipse. “She needs to eat this.”

She nodded and without any hesitation, gave it to Yuna. She took slow bites at first, but I could feel her strengthening. It… wasn’t an emotion, not really, but I felt her getting stronger all the same. By the end she ate a quarter of it in one go just fine, and breathed deeply before leaning into Eclipse. {Today is  _ definitely _ the second worst day of our life so far.}

Eclipse was still processing, but I could feel relief that outstripped the alarm from before flowing from her. “Yeah…” She looked over and held an arm out to Koko. She crawled over to Eclipse and hugged her, burying her face into Eclipse’s chest.

Leanne let out a sigh of relief and held my hand like I was holding hers. “I’m glad they’re okay.”

I nodded. We-

We heard screaming from the monitor, and looked over while we were still trying to process what’d just happened. There was a girl in the machine along with… some swirling circle of death? They were purple and had green orbs and a terrifying mouth contorted in pain, and that all came out of a weird rock.

As we watched, the girl slowly turned transparent. But unlike Razin, she didn’t float up. Her body turned a slightly purple before it got sucked from one side of the machine and into the stone. The swirling circle of death suddenly started spiraling erratically, purple lightning tearing out. A shrill whine filled the air, echoed over a hundred times as furious whispers began filling the air. Something deep in me was screaming one thing.

_ Run. _

But there wasn’t anywhere to run here. I just huddled more in Mama’s tails, watching as the stone and circle  _ exploded, _ sending shards shooting through the room. There were a couple yells, but nothing topped the unearthly  _ wailing _ that was echoing around the room, the walls,  _ everywhere _ . I saw purple bolts with faces streaking through people, and had barely enough time to register that something was  _ very _ wrong before-

**_~~Eterna City Outskirts, Year 8516, ???, ???~~_ **

_ -ran away, holding Koko in my arms. Eclipse was beginning to trail behind, and I held out a hand. _

_ “Come on, we have to-” _

_ Another explosion shook the earth, throwing her off balance. Yuna went to catch her, but I managed to first. She looked up at me, relief and horror mixed in her eyes. _

_ “Is Dad following?” _

_ I hesitated. “He’s… probably taking another route.” _

_ She nodded and we turned to keep running. Another explosion thundered, one of the buildings close to us being torn apart from inside like a stale gingerbread house. Several of the wooden beams supporting the roof came hurtling towards us. _

**_I’m sorry, honey._ **

_ I put Koko in her arms before pushing her out of the way. Opal, bless her heart, stood in the way and held her arms up. Her horn was whirling, sending a quiet whine through the air as she stopped me from getting flattened right then and there. _

_ “Mom!” I heard Eclipse call from the other side. _

_ “Just keep running!” I shouted back. “It’s going to be okay!” _

_ “Looks like I’ll need to work on the catalyst,” a woman behind me sighed. We whirled around to find said woman with purple hair, a mostly white bodysuit and a yellow G emblazoned right below her neck. A Skuntank was trundling beside her, their purple fur being blown side to side from the shockwaves but not looking at all bothered. _

_ “Debris wasn’t even launched quickly enough to get some runaways,” she continued, speaking more to herself. _

_ I shifted from horror, to anger, to disbelief, before settling on all three. “You did all this?! Why?!” _

_ A smile lit up her face. In the same way the swirling pits of the Distortion World lit up the souls unfortunate enough to fall in. “Why? Because it’s beautiful!” She spread out her arms, twirling like a kid at a candy store. “Look at all this! The flames, the chaos, the symphony of screams, the patterns from the wreckage? It’s incandescent!” _

_ Opal stood in front of me, the brave Rhydon standing with me even through this. “For a madwoman, maybe.” _

_ She just giggled to herself. “You think you can stop me? That’s  _ **_adorable!_ ** _ Here, let’s put a little wager on this.” She took out a small box, placing it on the ground next to her. An ominous, steady beeping pierced the air. “If you want to stop me so bad, all you have to do is hold off until the timer goes off. Then boom! And don’t worry, I won’t kill you either. It’d be  _ **_much_ ** _ prettier to watch the explosion engulf you.” _

_ My hand was shaking, but I just took a deep breath. _

_ Even at worst… my children could escape. _

_ “Opal, Horn Drill!” _

**_~~Dream World, Year 8520, Damidar, ???~~_ **

I opened my eyes, my head  _ pounding _ and an unearthly chill clutching at my very soul. I held my head, trying to hold back the pain and curling up more. I tried to increase my flame more to fight off the chill, but all I got was another shock lancing through me.  _ I dunno what happened… but whatever happened… it wasn’t familiar at all... _

Still shivering, now from electricity and cold, I looked around. “Mama…?”

There was no one.

All that was around me were tall, dark shafts that looked vaguely like trees. They had no branches though, and they kept going up and up far out of sight. The sky above was pitch black, and trying to look around me was impossible. An inky void shrouded all, with even the snow crunching beneath my feet feeling… wrong, somehow.

I looked down and screamed; it wasn’t snow, it was  _ shards of bone. _ I ran over to one of the trees, intending on climbing up it quick as I could. But as I got closer it began to bend down, portions of the ebon bark snapping off and reaching towards me.

My legs pinwheeled under me, scrambling to a stop before running away. Darting through the tree monsters. They were all bending now, trying to grab me.

“Mama!” I called out, looking for her. But she wasn’t there. No one was.

I wasn’t looking where I was going, and slammed right into something. Barely keeping my footing, I looked up to see what was like… a giant gray shoe?

The ground shook as it shifted, forcing me to leap away just to not get crushed. Barely still standing to not fall in the bones, I looked up to see twin voids staring down at me. Hollow. Devoid of empathy. A face could vaguely be seen through the shrouding gas, a perpetual scowl across it.

“ **_YOU CANNOT ESCAPE_ ** .” The thunderous voice shattered the air, forcing me to hold my ears and try to get them to stop bleeding. The aftershocks kept making my limbs jerk, and my head was pounding worse than ever.

While I was still trying to get my bearings, I heard laughing from all around. I turned around, shuddering, to see the Sneasel from before coming right at me. Laughing like a maniac the whole way.

I screamed one last time as my vision went dark again.

**_~~???, Year 8520, Damidar, ???~~_ **

I bolted upright, breathing heavily. Leanne and Yvonne were there, and Mama was looking at me. Her tails were around me, I was on the bed, and there was fear in her heart. {My child? What happened?}

I shuddered and held tightly to her, whatever just happened having not helped me feel better  _ at all _ . Physically or mentally. The pain in my head wasn’t as bad as before, but the chill in my soul lingered.

She just kept me close. {It is alright, my child… you are with me. Whatever night terrors assault you are not here.}

I just stayed with her as Leanne rubbed my back gently.  _ But… but they are here. Right? People keep dying, and being taken, and the evil people are here and they don’t care…  _ I clutched Mama tighter, and she wrapped her tails around me softly. I didn’t have words. No one did.

Leanne then patted my back a little, signaling to look at her. She smiled a bit when I did. “There’s somethin’ going on today you might enjoy.”

I looked over a little and saw Ron, Rush, Hazel, Vivian, Mabel, Haley, Benny and Bors coming over along with four other people. The only human there had blonde hair and a bright smile, wearing a deep blue long-sleeved shirt with gold rings on the cuffs, neckline and bottom. They were clearly more gold-colored fabric than actual gold, though. He also had blue jeans, boots with faux fur on them and he looked excited.  _ But he also feels nervous? _

The Pokemon with him was pretty big, but not gargantuan or anything. She had a huge shell on her head that came to a spiked spearpoint, and similar shells on each of her four legs. Her hide was a deep blue, like the shirt, and she had large fluffy white whiskers and what looked like hair under the shell on her head. She looked like she could kick  _ all _ the butt in a fight.

The other was a kinda-human-kinda-Pokemon person like me. He had a dark gray beard with some orange streaks in it, and his dark gray hair grew long enough to hang down to his neck on either side. He had a tattered red jacket, plaid shirt underneath, deep green pants and black shiny boots that squeaked a bit. His beard covered his mouth, but it felt like he was smiling anyway.

The Pokemon with him was around the same size as the first, and had a similar body shape even though they looked different. They had orange bumps on their four legs instead, and instead having small black claws their feet had three large toes. They didn’t have whiskers, but bright orange cheek-spike thingies. That and big fins that were in line with their eyes, and one going all the way from their back to their butt to their belly.

Before they came over totally, I looked at Mama questioningly. She smiled warmly, gesturing towards the first. {That is a Samurott,} she then gestured to the other, {And that is a Swampert.}

I nodded while the human guy waved. “A show was demanded and I shall deliver!”

This time I looked at Leanne,  _ very _ confused. She just chuckled. “Things’ve been shit the past few days, and he wanted to help cheer everyone up. He’s an actor.” She elaborated when I didn’t look any less confused. “That means he plays other people as characters in a big story. Instead of reading it, he wears costumes and says what the character would say. That sort of thing.”

Even though I understood the words, I was still confused.  _ Why would you wanna do that? Isn’t being yourself the best thing? Why would you wanna have your life revolve around being someone else? Isn’t that bad? _

He definitely didn’t  _ feel _ bad though as he bowed deeply, putting one hand on his chest and the other swinging behind him high into the air. “You have me rightly, dear lady!” He snapped upright like a branch. “This horrible place threatens to sap the life and joy from us all, and we can’t have that! So to keep our spirits high and provide reprieve, me, my companion,” He threw his arm around the other guy, “And our dear partner Pokemon will be putting on a show for you!”

I was still trying to process before he made his face look like he was distraught, even though I could feel he was less nervous and more getting into it. “But how could I forget, I haven’t even introduced us all yet! I am Owain, actor and accentuator of all things!”

He swung around, the arm that was around the other guy’s shoulder whirling around to present the Samurott with him dramatically. “And this is my partner, Sue, a Samurott of unparalleled fortitude and skill!”

Sue inclined her head, smiling as well. {I do hope we can bring you some joy today.} She glanced fondly at Owain, and I could feel sadness and pride in her heart.

Owain gave her a slight nod before twirling around and holding his arms out to the other guy and the Swampert with him. “My companions today are Zachirias, whose legendary ship, the…” he paused and whispered. “What’s it called again?”

Zachirias chuckled. “He’s the S. S. Argus.”

Mama rolled her eyes at Owain as he spread his arms out bombastically. “The S. S. Argus’ voyages are only outstripped by his knowledge of the seas it sails majestically upon!”

He bounced over like a spring to the Swampert. “Finally, his beloved partner Elvis, a Swampert whose home is the ocean itself and who can weather any storm!”

Elvis just looked at him. {That’s really not how it works, but okay.}

Several Pokemon chuckled, a lot of people having come over to one side of the room to see what was going on and give them room to do their thing. Owain looked and felt a lot more nervous, but Zachirias just patted him on the back and gave him a smile. Owain nodded, breathed deeply and put on a smile once more.

“Come one, come all, and see how the cards shall fall!”

~~~~~~~~

They then started performing a play, apparently called ‘Awakening: Through Time and Space’. It revolved primarily around a group of kids and their Pokemon who ended up in a really dark time, but with the help of Dialga and Palkia went back to the past, where they needed to be to change their future. They had to keep it a secret from their parents that they were their kids, since if they didn’t let things go how they were supposed to? They wouldn’t be born.

I could feel that Mama, Leanne, Yvonne and a lot of the adults weren’t really paying too much attention, but… I  _ loved _ it. Owain was nervous, but he really put his heart into it.

_ I get why he does this now… ‘s not because he doesn’t want to be himself, it’s because he can do lots and lots of things as himself. He can portray loads of people as himself and tell stories that you can’t tell if you only were yourself. _ I leaned more into Mama.  _ But… I still think I like being me better. You can make your own stories, and nobody can make the stories you can. Since you’re you. Like what Ma told me… _

My head felt fuzzy at that last part, but I shook it off. Mama looked at me and nuzzled her snout between my ears, smiling, before she kept her tails curled around me.

At one point, when Owain was acting out a sword fight with Sue (he didn’t have a sword, he was using a piece of a bed) the door hissed open again. It’d done that several times, as it kept doing, but Owain kept saying ‘the show must go on’ and kept going despite it all. Except this time…

“Samurott and trainer!”

He glanced over in surprise, fear welling in his heart, but he kept a smile on for everyone before bowing to Zachirias. “It appears I must exit the stage for now, but you must keep heart! For the show must go on!” Before he walked out with Sue, who nodded to us all.

{Thank you. All of you. For giving us a chance.}

We all nodded after them as the door hissed shut. Zachirias looked around before glancing at the screen, then back to everyone. “Well, it’s not the battle they were expecting, but it’s the battle they got.”

He then went on to tell the story of what happened next, narrating what was happening on screen like it was an intense battle. Which it kinda was. Just with no swords. We watched as Owain’s hair got longer. It forming a big spike facing forwards. But... not too much happened honestly. We were all starting to get used to what was happening, awful and tense as it was.

When he was brought back in along with Sue, they were let rest while Zachirias kept the story going. He didn’t act it all out, but he did tell it  _ amazingly _ . He had surprising range for how deep his voice was. We heard the rest of the story about Lucina and her friends saving the world from Giratina. And once he’d finished, he started telling us all stories of voyages he’d been on. Apparently since fishing (whatever that is) isn’t a thing anymore, he instead went on trips to check on the Pokemon in the area and deliver cargo around.

It was interesting, but I didn’t think it was as cool as Owain’s play. I mostly spent time asking Mama about the Pokemon he mentioned I’d never heard of. Wailord, Lumineon, Lanturn, Mantine, so many Pokemon lived in the ocean.

When she was telling me, I at one point looked over at one part of the room. It was a  _ huge _ tank of water that had some of the Pokemon Mama was talking about, and people in it as well. The Pokemon felt annoyed, but more or less okay. There were people like me in there too, but they didn’t have legs. They had fins and stuff instead.

After he’d finished telling his stories, people started dispersing. Ron turned to us, wide-eyed. “That was  _ awesome! _ Owian was so cool!”

Hazel nodded, a small smile on her face. “It… it was really nice.”

Ron held air like he was holding a sword. “And it was so cool when Lucina ran out of the portal and fell right onto a Risen and beat them up and-” he kept going excitedly, waving his arms about.

Mama just looked at me. {Did you enjoy it, my child?}

I nodded, but was a bit confused. “{You and Leanne and Yvonne didn’t feel like you liked it as much… did he do something bad?}”

Leanne raised an eyebrow as she looked over, shaking her head. “No, not at all. It’s just…” She hesitated, trying to find the words. “He’s very  _ bombastic _ , for all the parts.”

I tilted my head. “{Why’s that a bad thing? It helped a lot.}”

Vivian’s ears perked up as she and Hazel looked over. “What do you mean?”

This time it was me hesitating. “{He… uh…}”

Mama nuzzled me, calming my heart before I responded. “{He wasn’t really  _ feeling _ what he was doing, so sometimes it was confusing what he was trying to convey. Like how he felt excited even during the-}” I started coughing, and everyone waited until it stopped. “{During the scene where Lucina met her dad again. Because he was so expressive with what he did, it helped me know what was supposed to be happening.}”   
Vivian nodded slowly. {I… think I get what you mean. You could feel his feelings, which would’ve made it hard to know if he wasn’t so over the top. But he was, which let you know what the point was.}

I nodded and Ron’s eyes widened. “You can feel feelings?! That’s so cool!”

I tilted my head. “{You can’t?}”

He shook his head. “A little bit with Rush, but we were like that before. Can you feel what I’m feeling?”

“{Hungry.}”

His stomach growled as he put his hand on the back of his head and laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, you got that right!”

I was starting to get really dizzy again, so Mama made them go and give us room to rest. Before she left though, Leanne looked at me. “You can feel what we’re feeling… right?”

I nodded. “{You’re worried… and now surprised, and now a little happy?}”

She moved in, Mama noticing and letting her hug me gently. “That’s a wonderful gift you have.”

After that she walked off, Mama nuzzling me. {Sleep well, my child.}

I could feel she was warm, and not just her fur. I cuddled up close. “{Okay… I love you, Mama…}”

The warmth grew warmer. {I love you too, my child.}

**_~~???, Year 8520, Damidar, ???~~_ **

{My child, wake up,} Mama said quickly. {Someone is coming.}

I slowly shook myself awake, looking up. The door was open, and one of the blue meanies was coming closer. I shrank into Mama’s tails, huddling closer to her and away from them.

They groaned, annoyance flaring in them. “Oh for the love of- don’t make this harder than it has to be, just c’mere.”

I, predictably, did not do that. I wasn’t inclined to go with the people who’d just murdered dozens of others in horrible ways in front of all of us. The only things coursing through me right then were fear and wanting to stay with Mama.

They growled, reaching their hand towards me. “C’mon runt, it’s time-”

Mama suddenly stood up, one of her tails bursting into flames. Unlike the usual orange fire though, it burned ashy gray and felt…  _ hateful. _ Like that fury within her was manifesting into a literal fire, billowing off of her tail. She smacked the blue meanie with it, sending them tumbling to the floor. The fire rushed silently from her tail onto them, quick as a flash engulfing them before it went out.

They weren’t burned at all, but I could feel something had just happened. They were in a complete panic, their eyes bugging out of their head and their mouth open in a silent scream. Their limbs were bending in ways that limbs definitely don’t usually bend, their whole body contorting on the floor.

{ _ Do not  _ **_dare_ ** _ touch my child,  _ **_filth_ ** _. _ } The fire, even though it had rushed over me a little, didn’t do anything at all to me. A Pokemon, a Glameow from what Mama had told me, was shrinking away from them before Mama turned her gaze to them. They shrunk even more. { _ Meet the same fate as him, or  _ **_leave_ ** _. _ }

{R-right!} They quickly scrambled out the door, claws scratching against the metal as they bolted from the room. Mama then turned to me, the fire winking out as she was full of concern.

{Are you alright, my child?}

I nodded. Even though I knew Mama had just done something to the blue meanie, I… didn’t feel bad? I felt bad for the Glameow, and I’d felt bad for all the people dying the past couple days, but something in me just… refused. Refused to feel bad for the human my Mama had done something to. Like it was something that wasn’t bad at all.

_ What did she even do, anyway? _

More blue meanies came into the room, but they were there to take the blue meanie Mama smacked away. The Pokemon with them were staying well away from Mama, but I just looked at her. “{Mama? What did you do?}”

She looked at me before nodding to her side. I cuddled up against her and looked at her vivid, almost glowing eyes. {I cursed him, my child. It is something that all Ninetales can do. You will be able to as well, once you grow.}

_ A curse… _ “{But what did it do?}”

She glanced over as the door hissed shut. {I made him undergo the pain we all have been feeling. And forced him to be unable to make a sound, as those who have tortured us are deaf to our cries.}

I nodded, and she looked worried. {Does that upset you, my child?}

I shook my head slowly. “{No… no, it doesn’t. It… doesn’t feel like you did a bad thing.}” I held my chest. “{Not here, anyway.}”

She smiled warmly, relief flooding through her. {I am glad.}

I sat with her a second before something came to mind. “{Mama? Why didn’t you do that to the Sneasel and guy who attacked us?}”

She looked down, her ears drooping slightly. {Cursing someone requires me to actually contact them with my tails, my child. At no point did I have that opportunity.}

I hugged her quickly. “{I don’t blame you! I was just curious. Don’t be sad Mama…}”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a Ninetales curse,” Mabel said while walking over with Haley. “You two alright?”

I nodded, as did Mama and they sighed in relief. “Thank goodness. I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but I’m glad they didn’t hurt you.”

Eclipse was walking over too, Yuna and Koko with her. “If you could’ve done that this whole time, why didn’t you?”

Mama looked intensely at her. {Because I know that if I were to curse every human that came in this room, I would quickly be taken away from my child. And perhaps they would kill her. Which I will not allow.}

Eclipse looked like she wanted to say something, but when she glanced at Koko she nodded slowly. “Yeah… yeah, I get it.”

Mama’s gaze didn’t waver. {If I could do so with no risk of harm coming to my child, every human in this horrid place would never be able to vocalize the pain they would feel. Even  _ if _ I allowed them to make noise again.}

The door hissed open again, and this time a girl stood there. She had the same kinda outfit as the blue meanies before, but it was a bit different. There was more black and less light gray, and her hair wasn’t blue. It was black with a few purple highlights, along with her pale skin. She looked older than Eclipse, but younger than Leanne.   
And with her wasn’t another Glameow. They were a big black and purple… dragon? I didn’t have the words, but they had large wings from their arms, huge ears, white fur adorning their neck and back, red claws and a red V on their forehead. Their tail was long and thin, with two spines at the very end.

Mama got up and glared, but I was looking at them confused.  _ They don’t feel like the other blue meanies… they feel upset? Sad? _

“It’s alright, I don’t intend to take the child from you.” She was standing well away from us both, and the Pokemon with her seemed pretty okay with not coming closer. Which was also different from the Glameow from earlier.

“We’ve come to take her to the doctor. She’s clearly sick and needs more medical attention than what’s… been available. You can come with her, she just needs to get treated.”

Mama didn’t back down, the fur on her back rising. {I have  _ no _ reason to trust you. And I do not intend to.}

The Pokemon spoke up. {She’s-}

Mama glared at him and growled. { _ Silence. _ I will  _ not _ hear the words of a Pokemon under their command. Nothing you can say can break the shackles that bind you,  _ Noivern _ .}

They went silent, but they didn’t feel afraid, per se. More like their heart deflated. The girl spoke up again. “I don’t expect you to trust me, since I don’t even know your names. But I can tell you mine. I’m Jean, and my partner here is Indra.”

She looked pleadingly at Mama. “Please. You don’t have to trust me, but if nothing else, come with her to get her treated. She  _ needs _ it. You know that.”

I hugged Mama, and she glanced at me. “{She… doesn’t feel mean… And I don’t wanna be sick anymore…}”

Several things fought for dominance in Mama’s heart. Fury, despair, horror, worry, defiance, hatred. Her fur bristled, looking almost like flames flickering, before she nodded. {I understand, my child. However, please stay close to me.}

I nodded and crawled onto her back, hugging her tight. She hopped down, Eclipse glaring at Jean. “You know this shit won’t work twice if you’re bullshitting. I don’t give a damn what you think these collars can do, we won’t stand for your bull!”

Jean gave her a long, sad look. “I know. And I’m not lying. Trust me for now. They’ll both come back better than they were before.”

Eclipse just rolled her eyes. “Yeah, sure, like the  _ others _ who’ve been ‘made better’,” she said while making air quotations and glaring at her. Then she looked at me, fear and anger in her heart. “I know you’re stronger’n them. You’re gonna be okay, no matter what they throw at ya.”

I nodded at her, staying close to Mama. Jean then walked to the door. “Please, follow me.”

Mama walked out after her, the door hissing shut behind us. She kept six of her tails around me so no one could get to me, but I could still see around us. There were harsh white lights buzzing in the ceiling, and everything was a dark gray metal. Small lines separated huge sheets of metal from one another, and several other doors were embedded into the walls. The clangs of various footsteps echoed down the halls, a faint scent of dirt and stone permeating the metal slabs. Every so often there was a metal half cylinder embedded into the wall, filled with dirt and some tall, thick leaves stretching towards the ceiling. They were scattered infrequently throughout the hall, far outnumbered by the doors I’d come to know and hate.  _ These ones seem weaker than the one in our room, though. _

While we were walking through the hall, several other blue meanies walked past with Pokeballs on their belts. Most of them had blue hair and the awful haircut, but a couple had outfits more like Jean’s and not blue hair. No Pokemon were with them, though. They all gave us a wide berth, having probably heard about Mama.   
There was one duo though that I heard way before they ever came around the corner.

“I gotta say, I’m glad the first phase is over with.” said a voice that cracked every so often.

_ First phase? _

“I know,” sighed the other voice, cracking as well but slightly deeper. “I can tell why they call this place Iron Island. You gotta have an iron stomach for all the crap that happened the past week.”

“At least the next bits shouldn’t mean we have to dump out a half dozen corpses every day.”

When they rounded the corner they stopped talking  _ immediately _ after seeing us. One of them eyed Mama warily. I barely paid attention to that though, as my heart had dropped through the floor.

_ They  _ **_dumped out_ ** _ corpses? But… but they died in such awful ways! They’re not garbage, they’re people! All of them! I saw them being scraped off the walls, you can put that in the ground and give them some peace! Not just… throw them in a trash can or something! _

We kept going down the ominous halls, and even though I kept track of the turns we made there wasn’t much in the way of landmarks to tell where we’d been. At best I knew that the corners had two wall plants on them instead of one, but that was pretty much it. Nobody spoke the whole way through, but Mama pet my back gently with her tails sometimes.

Eventually we got to a door that Jean stood slightly to the side of. Some small beams of light shone at her eye, moving up and down before a light blinked green and she knocked on the door. “Rhodo? It’s Jean. I brought the Ninetales and the child with them.”

From the other side of the door I could hear an extremely deep sigh as a man got up from his seat. He sounded tired, but not from exhaustion or sleep. More like he was tired of… everything.

The door opened revealing a skinny human man. He had a darker complexion and his hair was long, dark brown dreads. Like Jean he wore a different outfit than the other blue meanies (and didn’t have the stupid hair). He wore eyeglasses, a turquoise rolled up sleeve dress shirt with a loose black tie with the letter G on it. There was a white coat around his waist and he wore black grunt pants. What was weird was that he was wearing… socks with sandals? I got the feeling that something about them specifically was spiteful.

He looked us all over and forced a smile. I could tell it was something he was used to doing, since his eyes remained drained and there was no joy in his heart.

“Hello, everyone… thank you Jean, I can take it from here.”

She nodded, saying “Good luck,” quietly before walking out of the room with Indra and the door hissing quietly shut. Mama just glared at him. He seemed unsure, but he gestured for us to come inside. There was a small cot for me to sit on while Mama sat in front of me. He sat at his desk and began addressing Mama.

“...my name is Rhodo, I’m here to make sure you’re healthy. I’ve been told the child was feeling ill. I need to give her a check-up. Do you mind?”

Her eyes narrowed. {I do, in fact, mind,  _ human _ .}

He furrowed his brow. “I’ve been told she’s been suffering, physically, for the last 8 days. If she has a fever it could get even worse without treatment,” Rhodo took a deep breath. “Blissey eggs are miraculous, but I know she cannot completely supplement what the child needs when her own body is lacking in vitality. I know you wish to protect her, but if she doesn’t get medicine soon she could...”

He turned to me, trying to figure what he should say before he turned back to Mama. “She could die.”

Mama kept glaring at him. {And what, precisely, is to say that you won’t give her something that accelerates that?}

Rhodo gave Mama a sad look. He can’t understand her, but I could feel he was desperately trying to think of something. 

“...I know the other grunts have treated you poorly and I’m sorry you all have had to suffer like this. This situation is…  _ beyond  _ horrible, but if you want her to survive this I need to help her. You came here for a reason right? You would’ve refused if you didn’t believe this was for the best.”

Mama kept glaring. I could tell she didn’t think this was good  _ at all _ , she just knew staying in the room before wouldn’t have helped a bit. And she didn’t seem pleased with this room either.

_ But… he feels sorry. Really, really sorry. And sad. And in pain in his heart. He doesn’t wanna be here… but I think he wants to help. _

“{Mama…}” She turned to me, and I felt some shock coming from Rhodo. “{He doesn’t feel bad… I think he does wanna help. But…}” I shuddered. “{Stay with me, please…?}”

She nodded quickly, nuzzling close. {Of course, my child.} She glared at Rhod after. {Hurt her and you will face far worse than the human from before.}

“You’re letting me help?” He asked cautiously.

She nodded slowly, but narrowed her eyes at him. I knew even without feeling it, the message was clear.  _ Hurt her and I hurt you. _

He gulped before getting some equipment. He walked over slowly to me and forced another smile.

“I don’t think I ever caught your name. Can’t go around calling you ‘the child’ forever, ya know. People don’t call me ‘the adult’, right?”

I nodded. “{I’m Aurora.}”

Rhodo’s face screwed. “Can you… repeat that?”

I gave him a weird look, one of my ears tilting. “{I’m Aurora.}”

“Aurora… that’s your name?” He asked unsure.

_ Why is this so hard for humans? _ “{Well it’s not  _ sandwich _ , so yeah.}” Mama chuckled.

“Sandwich? Uhhh…” Rhodo felt a little lost, but continued tending to me. “Aurora? Do you realize you’re speaking in human and pokemon mixed together?”

I gave him another weird look, but this time I was confused. “{There’s a difference?}”

“There’s difference? Yeah there is. You see, humans can’t understand what pokemon say, but pokemon can understand humans. All I heard from you was ‘There’s vul difference?’. You never noticed?”

I shook my head. “{The ones like you died, so…}”

He grimaced. “Hmm… so you’ve got your languages mixed up. I wonder if it’s because of the fever… delirium? Lack of proper treatment? Trauma? No, the fusion likely took much of a toll...” He began quietly muttering to himself. “How can I help her…?” He continued with his check-up and began muttering to himself. Quiet enough to where I feel like he thought I wouldn’t hear, but it was clear as this place was awful.

“She’s burning way too hot for any human sickness, but uncomfortably high for a passive Vulpix. She appears dazed, there’s a cough, weakness… is this a common pokemon cold?” He looked at my collar a bit closer. “This isn’t helping…”

He looked me in the eye. “Thanks for trusting me Aurora, now I can give you some medicine.”

Rhodo made his way over to the medicine cabinet and took out a strange bottle and a tiny cup. He poured some of the bottle into the little cup and handed it to me before handing me a box with some red sphere on it that had a slice taken out of it. The inside was pale yellow, and there was a whole one with stick arms, legs and a smiling face and a text box that read, ‘Don’t leaf your apple juice at home, kids!’.

_ What? _

“Okay Aurora this medicine will make you feel better, but sleepy. It’s yucky, but I’ve got some juice for you to wash it down okay?” He asked me gently, his hands on his knees. “I’m gonna call someone, so give me one second.”

I nodded, holding the little cup.  _ It’s probably not worse than gruel… _ Mama moved over. {Allow me, my child.} She sniffed it, sitting and thinking a moment before speaking again. {It smells safe for you to consume.}

I smiled at her before drinking it. It tasted… not as bad as gruel. It definitely didn’t taste  _ good _ , but it wasn’t something I needed Mama to freeze to get down my throat. When I drank from the box with a straw in it though, I stopped.

_ This… actually tastes good! Really good! _   
I was about to drink more before I looked at Mama. “{Do you want some?}”

Her eyes widened before she smiled, shaking her head. {It is for you, my child. Savor it.}

“{You’re sure…?}”

She nodded and I drank it. It was  _ way _ better than anything I’d had before, except for parts of my brain that said I  _ had _ had better things. If I tried to think of them though, my head got all fuzzy. I drank a bunch of it, but when I could hear it was nearing being empty I stopped and held it up to Mama.

{My child?}

“{I wouldn’t have gotten this without you,}” I said, smiling. “{I wanna give you some too.}”

She curled around me gently, purring softly before taking the juice box and drinking the rest of it. I could feel… warmth coming from the corner of the room. Rhodo was sitting at his desk and he had a tiny, genuine smile on his face before he placed another juice box on the cot.

“You two seemed to enjoy it. Drink up, I’ve got lots more,” He smiled at me. “It was very kind of you to share, Aurora.”

“{She’s my Mama!}” I said immediately. “{She should get some too.}”

Mama nuzzled me again. {You are very kind, my child. In a way few can match.}

I snuggled up to her, starting to feel a bit sleepy but drinking more juice with her before I was gonna sleep.

“Child. Speak.” A sharp, feminine voice startled me. It was coming from the device in Rhodo’s hand. “State your name and species.”

I looked over to see a lady on a small screen. She had wavy silver hair and piercing golden eyes. Even through the screen, she felt...  _ scary _ . I blinked. “{Um. I’m Aurora. What’s a species?}”

“Hmph. I see the issue.”

“And the collar?” Rhodo asked.

“Leave it be for now, I’ll need to personally address it. Notify me of any other important differences,” The woman said before the screen went black, and no noise came from it.

Rhodo breathed a hefty sigh of relief and I could feel his tension release. That woman… she unnerved him.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” He apologized. It was  _ very  _ genuine. “Anyway, the medicine should be kicking in soon. We heal faster in our sleep, so you’ll feel a little better once you wake up. You can sleep in the medical bay with… what is Ninetales’ name?”

I opened my mouth, paused, and closed it again. My brow furrowed.  _ She’s my Mama… I should know her name. But… I feel like I know it but I don’t? I guess I don’t know it then? _

Mama nudged me gently. {Ivane. Tell him that, my child.}

I nodded, looking at Rhodo again. “{She’s my Mama, Ivane.}”

“Mama Ivane? I see…” Rhodo eyed the two of us before smiling again. Again, a tiny one, but it was real this time. Like when I shared the juice. “You and your mama can sleep in the medical bay. I’ll see what I can do about the collars. Your kind of Vulpix and Ninetales need to keep their heat and chill balanced, but the collar is blocking your heat. I’ll ask if they can let some heat through, so you can stop being so cold.”

I nodded, Mama picking me up to carry me again. Rhodo pointed to a side room, which had several curtains in it. She nudged aside one, seeing a bed behind it. Then she sighed, kicking the curtain aside causing the rings to clatter against each other. It didn’t hide the bed at all anymore. She gave a look to Rhodo before hopping onto the bed, covering me in her tails again.

{Sleep well, my child. I will keep you safe,} she whispered gently.

My eyes felt really heavy, so I curled up with her and rested my head in her fur.  _ It’s warm... _

“{Night night, Mama…}”

  
  
  


**Entry Log**

_ We have finally finished fusing all the subjects that were gathered after 8 days. It has become clear that the younger the subject the more receptive they are to the fusion, meaning they obtain more traits from the pokemon. _

_ For the lycanroc fusions we used the trainer and younger sister to compare. The younger sister has the traits of a rockruff, while the older has the traits of a lycanroc. It seems the age of the human determines their evolutionary stage. The younger sister also has a tail while the elder does not, further solidifying that age is an important receptacle in fusion.  _

_ Our youngest participant is the 5-year-old Kalolan Vulpix 001 and out of everyone she seems to have obtained the most traits from her pokemon. It has also been brought to my attention that she cannot discern her speech between human and pokemon words, creating a garbled mess we humans cannot understand. Further inquiry required. _

_ The collars we fashioned for them all seem to be working as intended, but it is accelerating 001’s poor condition. I will consider loosening it to a degree that she can maintain homeostasis, but no more. _

_ Surprisingly many fish pokemon were compatible with humans. They have lost their legs and turned into merpeople in a sense. Luckily, we had prepared a separate space for them. _

_ I am also exceedingly pleased to find that the Silvally fusion was a success. It seems their mutant DNA is receptive in humans as well. It seems the trainer accosted Silvally from Aether quite a bit of time ago. Right into my lab. _

_ Speaking of unfortunate events, the samurott trainer hosted a… play? If one could call his boisterous galavanting ‘acting’. I had not intended putting him in the machine so soon, but I deemed moving him up was vital for my patience. _

_ After I have finished overlooking my preliminary data we may begin the intensive trials. I am eager to observe whatever results they shall produce. _

_ #001 Fused Kalolan Vulpix & Kalolan Ninetales Status: Recovering _

_ #006 Fused Pyroar & Pyroar Status: Nominal _

_ #011 Fused Magcargo & Slugma Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

_ #019 Fused Carnivine & Carnivine Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

_ #020 Fused Furret & Furret Status: Nominal _

_ #033 Fused Eevee & Eevee Status: Nominal _

_ #043 Fused Hydreigon & Hydreigon Status: Unstable _

_ #053 Fused Flygon & Flygon Status: Nominal _

_ #068 Fused Decidueye & Decidueye Status: Recovering _

_ #072 Fused Swampert & Swampert Status: Nominal _

_ #078 Fused Phantump & Phantump Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

_ #079 Fused Glalie & Glalie Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

_ #085 Fused Blissey & Blissey Status: Nominal _

_ #086 Fused Bewear & Bewear Status: Nominal _

_ #123 Fused Female Gallade & Gallade Status: Nominal _

_ #132 Fused Pachirisu & Pachirisu Status: Nominal _

_ #134 Fused Silvally & Silvally Status: Nominal _

_ #143 Fused Electrode & Electrode Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

_ #158 Fused Rockruff Status: Nominal _

_ #159 Fused Dusk Lycanroc & Dusk Lycanroc Status: Recovering _

_ #163 Fused Spiritomb & Spiritomb Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

_ #180 Fused Samurott & Samurott Status: Irritating, otherwise Nominal _

**Author’s Note:** And that’s chapter 2! Wouldja believe me if I said that we’re still in what I outlined for chapter 1? Because we are. There’s a lot that happens here, so stay tuned. Oh, and about Aurora, Arden and Lucia being trans. Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. I’m trans myself and I’ve done  _ loads _ of introspection into what that means. Of course, that doesn’t mean I know literally everything, nor does it mean I speak for every trans person ever, but it does mean I know more than a cis person. And that you needn’t worry about trans characters suddenly dying off because I don’t know how to write them. I personally try to avoid any trans character deaths, since gods know we get little enough representation as is. I don’t need to take away food from my people. I hope to see you again next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3: Descent into Madness

_ Finally we have learned ever so slightly more about where our story begins. It goes to show exactly what sort of place it is, however, that we have only just learned where they are. Not to mention how the past few days were only the initial stage of their plan. Iron Island… a location said to be difficult to survive for all who venture there. Ironic, then, that upon this island is where such events are taking place. So let us see now how Aurora’s fight for survival goes. _

**_~~Dream World, Year 8520, Damidar, ???~~_ **

I woke up, shaking my head. There was snow beneath me-  _ actual _ snow this time- and the sky was pink again. I pushed myself up, looking around. The trees were covered in green, needle-like leaves and bulges in the snow belaid their roots. Despite the sky being crystal clear, it was snowing lightly. To my right, there was more of a clearing than there was before. It didn’t look as though the trees had been chopped down, however. It simply looked as though they’d never existed to begin with, evident by the untouched snow and lack of stumps Except for...

“Rhea!” I started running over, snow kicking up beneath my feet. She was standing next to what looked like the start of a building; a wooden frame, a couple walls and windows in place. The floor was finished, all having been made out of a darker wood. It looked like a house built by someone who didn’t know too much about how building a house worked, but could make it without that knowledge perfectly fine.

She looked over, relief and surprise flaring in her heart. “Aurora!” She held her arms wide, and I ran into her embrace with a small jump. I hugged her back tight, her wings curling around me kinda like Mama did with her tails. “Thank goodness, I couldn’t find you the other night…”

I shuddered, remembering the dream from before. My hand went to my neck, where there wasn’t a collar. “What…  _ was _ that?”

She held me tighter. “A nightmare. Depending on how you’re feeling, you might enter the Dream World closer to me… or further away…”

Her wings unfurled, and I could see a dark cloud far off in the distance. I shuddered and held closer to her. “Can’t I just… choose to not go there?”

She smiled sadly. “If only. But it’s safe here.” She turned to show me what was behind her. “I started making this for us. Do you like it?”

I blinked. “What is it?”

Surprise lit up before dimming slowly. “It’s the start of a house. I figured you might enjoy staying in a house sometimes, instead of sitting in the snow whenever you come here.” She shivered. “I certainly would…”

I gave her a weird look. “Can’t you make fire though? You look like you can make fire.”

She shuddered. “I… not yet.” I felt a deep fear, regret and sadness from her as she said that.

_ I won’t ask. I don’t wanna make her sad. Maybe if she feels better about it someday. _

We sat on the floor inside… well, not  _ inside _ , but in the kinda built area. I noticed how the slabs of wood had lots of cool swirls in them, and even though it wasn’t as cushy as the snow? It was neat.  _ And a lot less hard than the floor in evil land. _

Rhea looked at me, confusion emanating from her. “Aurora. You… met someone, didn’t you?”

I nodded. “Yeah, Rhodo. The nice human who gave me and Mama juice. Why?”

She screwed up her face. “I… feel as though I’ve met him before. I don’t know for certain though. When you wake up, could you ask him if he recognizes my name?”

I nodded again. “Sure! Maybe your name is a secret code that opens up a hatch and lets us all get out!”

She chuckled. “Let’s hope. I think that’d be wonderful if it did.”

I sat with her, resting my head on her lap. I felt much better here than I did out there. She started scratching my head behind my ears, and a slow rumbling emerged from my chest. She stopped, surprised, and I looked at her. “What is it? Is something wrong?”

She shook her head, putting her hand back on my head. “No… no, I was just surprised. That’s all. You didn’t do that intentionally?”

I looked up at her, worried. “That’s like what Rhodo said… is it bad?”

She shook her head quickly. “Not at all! It’s… how do I explain it…” She looked up at the sky, quiet for a while. “Me, Rhodo, and a lot of the people who aren’t Pokemon around you have their own ideas of what other people who aren’t Pokemon do. If you do something we don’t expect, that doesn’t mean it’s  _ bad _ . It just means that what you did didn’t occur to us as an option, one that someone else would or could do. Like how some of the Pokemon are surprised you can understand them. They’re used to anyone who’s not a Pokemon not being able to, and because you’re not they expected you to not. But when you could, it surprised them. Does that make sense?”

I hesitated, then nodded slowly. “So it’s not bad… I’m just not what people expect?”

She smiled. “Exactly! You don’t have to worry.”

I then laid back on her lap, the same rumbling from before happening when she scratched behind my ears. She wasn’t surprised this time though. Just happy.  _ I want everyone to be able to be safe and happy in a place like this… _

**_~~Iron Island, Year 8520, Damidar?, ???~~_ **

I woke up again, this time without any snow beneath me. Something better was above and around me though.

I snuggled closer to Mama, and she looked in her tails at me. {Good afternoon, my child. Did you sleep well?}

I nodded, thinking for a moment. My head didn’t hurt as bad, and neither did my throat. The collar was still there, but it didn’t feel as bad as last time. I focused on my flame like Mama told me, and instead of getting shocked when I tried to make it bigger? It actually  _ did _ get bigger, spreading more warmth throughout my body. I could even get to what felt like a comfortable temperature, and a little above it before I felt the collar start tingling.

Mama smiled warmly at me, just seeing her face warming me more than any flame. {I see you can grow your flame more now, my child.}

“{Yeah,}” I said sleepily, “{It feels better than before.}”

“Hello? You two awake?” Rhodo asked before making his way over with more of his medical stuff, apple juice and medicine. “Ah good afternoon, you were asleep for awhile. The collar was loosened so you both should be feeling much better.”

Mama nodded at him, her gaze less intense than before. {Indeed they are. I am surprised you made good on your word.}

Rhodo noted Mama’s eye and nodded at her. “My only purpose here is to make sure you guys are feeling as good as you can be. You ready for your second check up?”

Mama unfurled her tails some as I nodded, remembering something. “{Hey Rhodo?}”

“Hm?”

“{Is the name Rhea familiar at all?}” Mama looked at me curiously as I said that. Rhodo on the other hand froze while he was checking my temperature. I could feel his heart  _ plummet  _ as he began looking around eyes filled with terror. He turned back to me, leaned in and spoke in a hushed voice.

“ _ Never  _ mention that name again here. To  _ anyone.  _ To any pokemon, fused, grunt, Jean,  _ especially not _ the lady on the phone, an admin,  _ no one.  _ If you do and  _ they  _ find out, I  _ physically  _ cannot save you from the consequences. Do you understand me, Aurora? Twitch your left ear if you do,” Rhodo spoke quickly and with a sense of urgency similar to how Leanne felt before Razin was taken away. His eyes were filled with desperation for me to understand.

I flicked my left ear, and he sighed in some minor relief. Mama clearly wasn’t a fan of his tone, but we glanced at each other.  _ She knows he’s scared, not controlling or anything. I mean I can not say something pretty easy, but why’s it such a big deal? He  _ **_definitely_ ** _ knows her though. I guess I’ll have to ask her next time I see her? _

“So, I got you some more apple juice, but I also made you both some muffins to enjoy. I’m something of a baker in my freetime and I had the ingredients so I figured why not. Gruel has everything you need, but nothing anyone wants.” Rhodo’s tone was lighthearted and whimsical, yet his heart remained sunken. As if he was trying to forget everything we had just said.  _ How much do humans fake what they’re feeling? It’s like they all do it all the time. _

He handed me more medicine and two juice boxes. “Lemme go get the muffins in the back.”

I took the medicine before drinking from the juice box, Mama having started already. {Clearly we have something to keep in mind, my child.}

I nuzzled against her as I thought.  _ Yeah… What’d make him so afraid? Rhea’s a nice person, so he can’t be afraid of her. It doesn’t make sense for him to get scared over something good, since he feels like a good human. And he was talking about how it’s something  _ **_other_ ** _ people can’t find out about… So somebody else knows her? And mentioning her is bad? Was Rhea a superhero or something? _

My thoughts were interrupted when Rhodo came in holding a tray of brown, poofy… things. Whatever they were they smelled better than  _ anything  _ I’d smelled before. He placed one on a plate for each of us.

“I wasn’t sure what you’d like, but corn muffins with butter are pretty universal. Eat up,” He gestured.

Mama sniffed each one before nodding and biting into hers. I felt that it made her happy, so I took a bite of my own. And it was  _ awesome. _ Apple juice was good, but this was  _ amazing _ . I had to keep myself from devouring it all at once, since it was sweet and fluffy and I wanted to eat it instead of gruel all the time.

Rhodo gave another tiny real smile. “Wow, your eyes are going wide, you must really like it. I’m glad.” He felt like he wanted to chuckle, but his heart wasn’t in it yet.

I nodded, eating it happily. I stopped though when I got closer to the bottom.  _ Ron would be going nuts right now for one of these… _ I looked up at Rhodo, who was confused why I’d stopped. “{Is there more? For everyone else?}”

Rhodo furrowed his brow. “Everyone else? Sorry I didn’t make enough for everybody. I could ask for everyone to get better food, but I doubt they’ll say yes.”

My ears drooped a bit as I nodded, looking at the rest of the muffin.  _ Then I’ll bring this back and give it to Ron and Rush. They’d love it. _ I used the paper with the pretty folds in it to cover up the rest of the muffin.

“For the others?” Rhodo asked. I nodded and he nodded back affirmingly. “You’re a very thoughtful girl, Aurora. You two can stay here as long as my boss allows. You’ve still got a bit of a fever and there’s not really much to do here, but it’s clean, the beds are a bit softer and I can always make more muffins. After you leave you’ll be coming back for more medicine over the next few days, too.”

His heart still felt really bad, so I put down the wrapped muffin and held out my arms to him. Rhodo turned to Mama with a wary look, but she just waved a couple of her tails in allowance. Her gaze never left him for a  _ moment, _ though. He leaned forward and gave me a light hug, which made him feel a little better, but I could tell something still concerned him. A _ lot.  _ But not so much for himself, but for me?

After he let go and stepped back a bit, my throat felt sorta scratchy so I coughed. This time though, a couple embers popped out when I did. Mama didn’t seem surprised at all, while Rhodo felt super surprised. That quickly changed as his gaze grew severe, his voice growing hushed again.

“I’m going to tell you two something vital. Phase 2 is beginning and it will only get worse from here on out. Do not stand out or they will single you out. Aurora, avoid using your powers too much, even a cough will get their attention.” 

Rhodo turned to Mama with an equally serious face. “Ivane… they don’t care about losing a few grunts in the midst of all this. But you need to keep in mind that if you cause too much trouble they’ll begin weighing whether keeping you alive would be more detrimental to them than you being dead.”

This time it was my heart that was dropping, but Mama just sighed. {Though I figured as much, confirmation is important information to have.} Then she looked at me. {It will be alright, my child. I will stay with you. They will have no reason to keep you away from me.}

I nodded slowly, hugging her tight. I was starting to feel sleepy again, but I wanted to stay awake and hug her a little longer.  _ At least here… things are getting a little better. _

Rhodo picked up our trash and plates. “The medicine is kicking in. Sleep well Aurora.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Me and Mama woke up again later, and Rhodo called Jean to come get us. She did, and she felt distinctly glad that we were feeling better. She didn’t say much though, as Mama was still glaring at her the whole time. There were less blue meanies…  _ Grunts, I think Rhodo called them? _ There were less of them walking around than when we’d come to the office in the first place.

When we got to the door, Jean looked at us. “I’ve been appointed to escorting you both, so when it’s time for you to go to Rhodo again tomorrow I’ll be the one coming.” The door hissed open and Mama simply walked with me inside, after glaring at her one last time.

The door shut again, and inside there were a whole buncha people waiting for us. Mabel, Haley, Benny, Bors, Guinevere and Chestnut were sitting on a cot close to the door. Chestnut’s ears perked up and she smiled brightly. {They’re back! And they’re okay!}

They all looked over and I could feel relief from all of them as Mabel led us over to a bed. There was… something else though, in all their hearts. Not sadness at us coming back, not at all, but… something else had happened to make them upset. 

For now though, that wasn’t the focus. That was Mabel looking me over. “Are you alright? Everything went well?”

Mama looked at them. {Indeed. The human called Rhodo is apparently our doctor. I would not place our trust in him just yet, but…} She glanced at me and smiled. {Aurora benefitted from the trip. And we learned some about our situation.}

Everyone looked more at attention as Mama explained about the phase 2 thing and how we’re on whatever an Iron Island is. They weren’t that surprised about the phase 2 thing (but I noted that they all felt more angry when it was mentioned) but with Iron Island? Benny put a hand to his chin in thought while Mabel thought out loud.

“Iron Island, huh? I’ve been a couple times with Benny, but we have to be  _ really _ far underground.”

I looked at them curiously. “{Why’s that?}”

“Iron Island is an abandoned mining facility,” They began. “Abandoned because too many Pokemon came into the facility for it to be safe to mine. The tunnels are still around, and trainers come all the time to fight and train.”

My ear flopped as I tilted my head in  _ more _ confusion. “{Why would they come here though? If they wanna fight, they can do that anywhere. Right?}”

They clenched a fist, and I felt their heart pulse in a bit of anger. “They  _ could _ , if they were fighting each other. The wild Pokemon on Iron Island are stronger than usual, due to having pushed out humans from the area. Combine that with how they’re primarily Rock, Ground and Steel types and lots of trainers use them to battle against instead of going after other trainers.”

My heart took a nosedive, Mama noticing and explaining. {Humans seem to believe that they should assault wild Pokemon for experience rather than battling amongst themselves. Combine that with the fact Pokeballs force one to be more amicable, it really is no surprise the state of things is so horrid. Or that groups such as this take hold.}

_ That _ surprised the others. Guinevere especially looked concerned. “Wait. Force them to be more amicable? You mean that Pokeballs force a Pokemon to be more affectionate towards whoever caught them?”

Mama nodded, her tails flicking behind her like a billowing flame. {Of course, this is information mostly overlooked by humans. It is, however, the primary reason as to why Pokemon will listen to humans that use them as mere tools. If they had free reign of their minds, they would not follow.}

{A perfect example of this is the Glameow enslaved by that Grunt human from earlier. They had no real desire to help the human, they were simply forced to. However, when their instincts told them to flee so vehemently and there was nothing they could do to help the human, the Pokeball did not force them to do anything. And as such, they fled.}

Mabel, Benny and Guinevere all looked at the Pokemon with them. I, meanwhile, looked at Mama. “{Does… does that mean-}”

{No, my child,} She interrupted. {You were at no point the holder of my Pokeball. Simply holding it does not transfer ‘ownership’ as humans call it. My love for you is genuine.} She then glanced at the others. {This is also not to say that a Pokemon is _incapable_ of bonding with a human. While a Pokeball is tantamount to mind control, it can be broken under certain circumstances due to more recent updates. They used to be far, _far_ more of a stranglehold on Pokemon. If Haley, Bors and Chestnut did not care for you? The current situation would have broken through any manipulation.}

That seemed to calm them a bit, but I just held Mama tight.  _ Humans do stuff like this all the time, don’t they… I thought it was just this place, but they control Pokemon all the time and don’t care. And they send out the Pokemon they… enslave, Mama called it? Whatever that means, against wild Pokemon who just wanna live their lives… And all because of Pokeballs… _

Guinevere noticed and smiled at me warmly, a gentle kindness glowing from her. “You’ve been through a lot today. There’s a couple other people who want to make sure you’re alright, but let me know if you need anything. I’m sure if you really need something, we can get it for you.”

I nodded and gave them all hugs before Guinevere and Chestnut led us back to our bed. Leanne and Yvonne were there, watching over Ron, Rush, Hazel, Vivian, Eclipse, Yuna and Koko. Ron and Koko noticed first, waving happily and pointing us out to everyone else. Hazel and Vivian’s brown ears were drooping slightly, but they perked up upon seeing us.

They all welcomed us with a big hug, Leanne smiling and relief washing over her. “You’re back… how’d it go? Nothing too bad? You’re walking again, that’s good yeah?”

“{Yeah,}” I said with a smile, “{Rhodo had medicine and it helped me feel better. I gotta go back for more, but I should be better soon.}”

She rubbed my back gently, Yvonne bowing her head gently with a warm joy coming from her.  _ I notice she doesn’t really talk… Is she like Benny? _

Concern was spiking in Eclipse though. “You’re sure everything went alright? No secret poison or anything?”

Mama shook her head. {No, none I could smell. And usually even poisons imperceptible to the human nose carry a slight scent. There was nothing I could detect, and my child is feeling better now.}

She breathed a sigh of relief while I pulled out something, Rush’s eyes lighting up. “{It’s not much, but… I saved some for you two,}” I said to Ron and Rush.

Ron’s eyes got  _ huge _ and I felt a  _ massive _ spike in joy from him as he took it gently, like it would shatter if he dropped it. He showed it excitedly to Rush before unwrapping it. His smile only got bigger as he looked at me. “There’s a whole half muffin left here! This is really for us?”

I nodded, smiling a bit. “{Rhodo said he makes muffins, and they’re good, and you both like food, so I figured it’d make you happy.}”

The two nigh on leaped on me, hugging me happily. “It definitely did! Thanks Aurora!”

Hazel chuckled as the two split it in half and  _ annihilated  _ it. “Don’t go too fast. Well… I’d say that, but it’s already gone.”

Rush chuckled awkwardly while Ron’s eyes were sparkling. “You weren’t kidding, that  _ was _ good!” He put a hand to his chin. “Maybe I should pretend to be sick, so we can get more muffins…”

Rush gave him a look. {I… don’t think that’s a good idea.} He looked at me. {Did he say it was for any special occasion?}

I shook my head, the motion not making me anywhere near as dizzy as it had before. “{No, it was more like he made them to make people happy, I think. Maybe I can bring some back next time?}”

At that Leanne got concerned again. “Next time?”

{Aurora is not fully healed yet,} Mama started, her tails waving, {And as such we need to make certain she is. They will be giving her medicine until she has recovered fully.}

Leanne sighed, fear clutching at her heart. I hugged her gently. “{It’s okay, he’s a nice guy. I think. Bad people don’t give you muffins and medicine, do they?}”

One of her fists clenched before it relaxed and she shook her head. “No… no, I suppose they don’t.” She smiled softly at me. “You’ve had a big day. You should get some rest.”

Even though I’d been sleeping through most of the day, I still felt tired. Not nearly as bad as I had before though, which was good. I hugged her before she got up, beckoning to the others. “Come on, let’s let her sleep.”

They all nodded, but Hazel and Vivian stayed a moment. Mama looked at them curiously before Vivian began. {Miss Ivane… You’ve seen a lot of things, right?}

She nodded, her head tilting. {I have, young Eevee. Why?}

She shuddered, her tail bristling. {I… don’t want to evolve into something that reflects a place like this. I know we can become lots of things, I just… wanted to know if you’ve seen anyone who’s evolved to be like this, that I don’t know about. That’s all.}

Mama thought a moment before shaking her head, her eyes closed before she opened them once more. {I do not believe so, young one. Even though I am aware of your kind’s evolutions to be of steel, stone, earth and darkness? I do not believe you are in any danger of unintentionally evolving into them. Perhaps becoming of ghost, but that is…}

Vivian nodded. {Something I only gotta worry about if I’m about to die, yeah.} She breathed a sigh of relief, looking up at Mama. {Thanks. That’s reassuring.}

{Anytime, young kit.} Mama sent them on their way, Hazel waving to us. Even without saying anything, her feelings made it clear.  _ Thanks for helping calm her. She’s been worried about that. _

As they walked off I snuggled close to Mama. “{Eevee can evolve into lotsa things, huh?}”

She smiled. {They can indeed, my child. They are known for it, in fact.}

I snuggled under her tails with her, both our flames warm enough to keep us both comfortable as we fell into sleep. The blankets had been mussed up some, but they were still plenty soft and Mama was very fluffy. My tail curled up even more, the white fur only really clouding the end of it now while the rest was a dirty red. With thoughts of muffins, hugs and Eevees in my head, I fell asleep.

**_~~Iron Island, Year 8520, Damidar?, ???~~_ **

“{Hey Rhodo? What’re all these plants?}” We were back in his office, and while the medicine had made me sleepy, I was less sleepy than last time. I only took a nap once, and now I was just resting with Mama and looking around the room. There were lots of plants (well, compared to everywhere else I’d seen except for my dreams anyway) in the room, and I didn’t recognize any of them.

“Plants?” He turned around realizing what I meant. “Oh these are berry bushes. They are pretty small, but easy to grow even in a place like this. This here,” Rhodo picked a blue berry. “This is an oran berry, they replenish a little bit of a pokemon’s health and make a good snack.”

Rhodo reached for the pink berry this time. “This is a pecha berry, they cure poison and are pretty sweet. Here, try one.” Rhodo handed the pecha berry to me. I bit into it and almost recoiled; it was  _ crazy _ sweet. There was barely any flavor to it at all, it was like biting into raw sugar that melted in your mouth.

Mama chuckled. {Yes, they are quite sweet. They taste better with something else though, unless you enjoy shoveling sugar into your mouth.}

“You think it’s that sweet?” Rhodo took another pecha berry and bit into it giving it a thoughtful taste test. “Hmmm. I’ve had far sweeter. Maybe it’s because you haven’t had anything sweet since you got here… I could try making some zesty muffins or cookies with these at least.”

_ Muffins and cookies with this definitely sound good, but what does he mean it’s not that sweet? It’s super sweet! Maybe his berry is different or something? _ I broke off the bit I’d taken a bite out of and held up the berry to Rhodo. “{Maybe yours isn’t as sweet or something?}”

Rhodo tasted it and shook his head. “Tastes about the same. Maybe you’ll like oran berries a bit more. They’re good for you and have got a pretty neutral taste. Not very sweet at all, either.”

He was right; they weren’t all that sweet. But they didn’t have an intense flavor in general. Some sweet, some tangy, but it blended in a really nice way and wasn’t too much at all. I happily ate the rest of it, Mama nodding. {They can be a nice meal, even on their own.}

I looked at Rhodo, ears flicking slightly. “{That tasted lots better!}”

He gave me another one of his tiny, but true smiles. “Glad you liked it. I’ve been tryna grow lotsa other berries. Rawst, aspear, leppa, cheri, sitrus, lum,” He gestured to some growing berry pots. “They’ll all be ready soon enough and you can taste test them all.”

I nodded, looking at the various colored trees that were still slowly growing.  _ I definitely wanna try them… but it’d be nice to be able to go home before they grow totally. _

There was a knock on the door, a familiar voice speaking from the other side, “Rhodo? It’s Jean again. Am I interrupting?”

“Just taste testing some berries, come in.”

The door opened and Jean and Indra came in, Indra’s wings folded up so he could walk in comfortably. I definitely felt a spike of interest when he saw the berries, though he didn’t go for them. Rhodo though immediately gestured for him to come over and eat some which he happily obliged.

Jean and Rhodo started talking about something, but I was lost in thought.  _ Rhodo’s nice, and Jean and Indra have been nice too. They don’t feel bad either… and it feels like they know each other. Not a lot, it’s kinda like… how Ron and Rush feel about Hazel and Vivian. They’re nice, they know each other, and that’s mostly it. _

Mama was still very wary of them both though, so once Jean had said a couple things she gestured to us. “I’ll escort you back to the others. Are you ready to go?”

I nodded, picking up the muffins Rhodo had given us to take back. “{Yup.}”

I waved to Rhodo as we walked out, and kept the muffins in my arms. Mama kept her tails close around me, and I walked close to her. So if someone wanted to touch me, they’d have to get within striking distance of her tails. And even though a couple grunts eyed us as we walked past, they all gave Mama a  _ wide _ berth.

As we were walking past one of the rooms, I heard what sounded like fighting from inside. I looked at it, Mama noticing. {What’s wrong, my child?}

Jean noticed next, and her heart dropped. “You… shouldn’t go there now. That’s for later.”

Mama glared at her, but brushed her tails against me gently. {Loathe as I am to agree with her, it is not safe here. We should keep moving.}

After some hesitation, I nodded and kept walking. Not without glancing back at the doorway where I could hear some muted scuffle, though.  _ I swear I heard Eclipse through that… _

When we got back, I could  _ definitely _ hear fighting. It was coming from the screen, and it was pretty obvious mostly everyone was watching. Guinevere though was closer to the door and noticed us come in, and she smiled sadly. “Welcome back, Aurora.” She squinted slightly. “You seem to have brought something with you?”

I nodded, walking over with Mama. Now that we were inside, she didn’t have to hide me. “{I got some muffins from Rhodo. I figured we could share… what’s going on?}”

She patted the bed next to her, and we went to sit with her. Hazel and Vivian were there, along with Chestnut. They all felt…  _ scared? What’s going on? _ I also noticed Hazel’s dad, Paul, was sitting a little way away. He was muttering something to himself that sounded like total nonsense, though. The Hydreigon with him was just floating.

I averted my gaze before they noticed it, shuddering slightly. Hazel noticed and hugged me. “Are you okay…?”

I nodded slowly, noticing Mabel, Benny, Haley and Bors coming over. “{Yeah, sorta… just… your dad’s scary…}”

She hugged me tighter. “He’s… not been right… I hope he’s okay…”

Vivian nuzzled closer to Hazel while Guinevere held us both gently, Chestnut curling around us. “It’s alright. I’m here for all of you.”

Mama nudged me gently. {Perhaps we can distribute the muffins, my child?}

That snapped me out of it as I started giving a muffin to everyone there. I went through them pretty fast, but at least everyone got one. Ron and Rush were talking with some other kids, but I was sure they’d come over quick. But after a look around the room…

“{Where’re Eclipse, Yuna and Koko? We have muffins for them too.}”

Chestnut looked at me sadly and just motioned her tail over to the screen. And what I saw…

“C’mere shitass, I ain’t done with you yet!”

Portrayed wasn’t the room from before, with the horrifying machine. That was just about the only  _ good _ thing. Instead it was a somewhat higher up view of a large glass tank thing, with various blue meanies standing around in white coats and mini-screens tapping away. Opposite the room there was a smaller room with a single, long window suspended above the ground and looking down. Inside there were a couple blue meanies-  _ Or are they grunts? Is there a difference? _ \- without the blue hair but who still had the white coats.

There were four other people though. They were kinda out of view of the screen, so I couldn’t see too much past three of them being humans and one being a Pokemon. They were standing at the front of the room though, and the only one on screen… I shuddered, cuddling closer to Mama.

_ I can’t forget those eyes. _

The same Sneasel that attacked me and Mama… somewhere, was leaning against the glass, their claws leaving slight scratches down the glass. Their mouth was stretched into a twisted, sadistic smile and their eyes were filled with malicious glee.

None of that was what the screen was pointed at, though. What the screen was pointed at was Eclipse, Koko, Yuna and another Lycanroc. It was easy to tell Yuna and the other one apart; instead of orange, they were tan and they didn’t have any fur coming up and over their head. Koko was staying at the far end of the room, as far away as she could get from the other Lycanroc. Yuna and Eclipse were standing in front of her.

Yuna’s coat was a bit messed up, but nothing major. Eclipse though had red liquid trickling down from places on her face, her arm and some places where the sides of her shirt had been torn away. She was  _ clearly _ hurting, but she still stood between the other Lycanroc and Koko.

“A woman forced her to fight,” Mabel began, their heart in their stomach. “At first it was Yuna fighting them while Eclipse stayed with Koko, but the woman we heard over the speaker within the first couple days clearly has other ideas. She said that if Eclipse or Koko didn’t join the fight, she’d turn all their collars on and let the other Lycanroc rip them apart.”

I shuddered as Yuna sent shards of stone hurtling towards the other Lycanroc. “{But why would you  _ do _ that?! If they turned the collars off, why can’t they just get out?}”

They sighed. “They tried that first. The glass wouldn’t budge. Whatever this is, it’s clear they don’t intend on giving anyone  _ any _ kind of free reign.”

I held close to Mama, her tails curling around me as I watched. Koko was clearly horrified at everything going on, but she yelled a bit. “You’ve got this Eclipse! I know you do!”

“Jus’ stay over there! We’ll handle this!” She yelled back while dodging a spear of stone that rose up underneath her, threatening to crush her against the ceiling. The other Lycanroc then howled, ripples forming at spots on the ground as several stones rose up and sent themselves towards the two.

Yuna broke most of them no problem, but one was heading straight for Eclipse.  _ She’s gonna get hit! _

But I was wrong. Eclipse didn’t get hit. She grabbed the rock, skidding back several feet as she growled in response before throwing it right back. It didn’t hit, but it forced the Lycanroc to dodge right into Yuna Crunching their side.

They yelped, kicking her off and leaping away. They then started circling each other, Yuna and Eclipse together with the Lycanroc on the other side.

{I understand you’re being forced to fight, but that doesn’t mean you have to attack my family! Why?!} Yuna yelled at them.

They growled. {You think my family isn’t being held hostage as well?! If I don’t fight you, my pups…}   
Yuna’s ears tilted back, but she narrowed her eyes. {All the same… I can’t let you hurt them.} Both Lycanroc were then enveloped in glowing shards of stone, circling them as they charged straight towards each other.

Meanwhile, Eclipse just looked up at the suspended room and… raised her middle finger? “If you’re gonna make us fight, at least don’t fucking send other people to do your dirty work! What, you afraid I’ll snap your neck if you get in here? Cuz you’re right!”

I noticed the human in the center of the three press a button before a voice rang out. “Less chatting, more fighting lest I turn the collars on and have Midday Lycanroc ravage you all,” A familiar voice spoke.  _ The same one from the screen in Rhodo’s room…  _ “You have been fused with a Dusk Lycanroc and thus should have their powers. Utilize them in order to survive the ordeal, #159. That goes for #158 as well. Dusk Lycanroc, instruct them.” 

“Fuck off!” Eclipse yelled while Yuna glanced up. The other Lycanroc stopped as well.  _ Probably glad they don’t have to fight for a minute… _

{At risk of us all dying, Eclipse.} She looked over. {I’m… not certain if this works for you, but you should be able to feel the stone around us. Try to bring some up from the ground. Like our opponent did before.}

_ She didn’t say enemy. _

“Uh. Alright?” She rolled her eyes and glared up at the room again. “No instruction booklets on how to survive fuckass land?” As the silence grew longer, Eclipse just groaned and held out her hands in front of her. “Fine, be a bitch,” she muttered as she closed her eyes.

The other Lycanroc got into a ready position, and all eyes were on Eclipse. A few beads of sweat formed on her forehead. I looked at Mama, worried. “{Is this like the flame thing…?}”

She nodded, gently pushing her head into me. {Yes, my child. Simply for stone and not flame.}

Eclipse suddenly yelled, falling on her knees and barely catching herself with one hand before tumbling fully to the ground. The other was clutching at her chest, and even without being there I could tell she was in  _ lots _ of pain. Her limbs were shaking and it looked like it was all she could do to not pass out.

My eyes went wide as Koko ran over, yelling Eclipse’s name. I looked at Mama again, my heart pounding. “{W-what happened?}”

{I… do not know, my child.}

Koko glanced up at the room above them, shuddering. “Uh… here goes, I guess.”

Eclipse looked up at her, barely keeping herself up. I couldn’t tell if the tears in her eyes were from pain or fear. “Don’t…”

Koko just hugged her before she held her hands out in front of her, closing her eyes. After a few seconds, a small area in front of her began to ripple slightly. It stopped abruptly though as Koko fell to her knees, coughing violently. She wasn’t  _ as _ bad off as Eclipse was, but it was clear whatever happened hurt her as well.

Benny tapped Mabel’s shoulder before making more symbols with his hands. Mabel shook their head after a minute. “I don’t think so… we didn’t see any electricity. Whatever happened, it wasn’t the collars. I don’t think, anyway.”

Benny nodded slowly, Bors holding his hand with a huge paw as we looked at the screen.

Yuna was standing in front of Eclipse and Koko, the fur on her back raising up as she growled. The two Lycanroc were ready to go at it until-

“That’s enough, the battle is over,” the intercoms sounded once again. “Take the fusions and dusk Lycanroc to the doctor and the midday Lycanroc back to their holding cell.”

There was a series of beeps as a couple lights on the collars lit up again, and I noticed one around the other Lycanroc as well. Several blue meanies with the blue hair but no white coats stood at the sides as parts of the glass were pulled into the floor. One of them pulled out a Pokeball and clicked the button on the front, the other Lycanroc turning red before being sucked in, before they walked away.

Meanwhile a few others grabbed Yuna, Eclipse and Koko and took them away.

“Will she be alright…?” Guinevere said quietly, likely more to herself than to anyone else. Chestnut noticed though and curled up on her lap.

Mama also heard, glancing at her. {Provided it is Rhodo they are taken to, I believe he will help them. I cannot speak to much about his character, but he seems to dislike this place at the very least. As well as genuinely wanting to go against our captors.}

Guinevere nodded, smiling. Her fear wasn’t  _ gone _ , but it wasn’t around as much. “That’s good to hear. Thank you.”

_ Mama doesn’t trust him any more than before though… I guess she kinda trusts some parts of him? I think he’s nice. Sad, but nice. He wouldn’t have given us all the muffins and talked with us and felt a little happy at watching us get better if he was evil. _

**_~~Iron Island, Year 8520, Damidar, Noxal 23rd~~_ **

Over the next couple days, a whole buncha stuff happened. One of the main ones being that  _ lots _ of people were called in to fight. And I got why Rhodo said to not use my abilities and they’d make me stand out; every time someone else went to try something, they fell over clutching their chest. Mabel pointed out to me that it wasn’t their hearts, but it was somewhere else. Which at  _ least _ meant it wasn’t blowing up their hearts or anything.

Rhodo said the same thing, and talked a little bit about how it had to do with an organ being underdeveloped or something? I didn’t get it all, but apparently something Pokemon had that was in me too was only sorta in them.

He also gave me lots of muffins to take back to everyone else. He made sure I had some for myself, but each time I went back he felt a  _ little _ happier. Not by lots, but he seemed happy that I was bringing muffins to everyone else. And I liked bringing them muffins, so I was glad that made him happy. Ron, of course, went nuts over them every time. Rush made sure we weren’t troubling ourselves doing it, but we really weren’t.

Fortunately, Eclipse and Koko weren’t super messed up or anything. They took a day or two to recover after, but they were mostly more tired than usual. Yuna seemed very happy to have the time to rest as well. Still though… whenever I watched someone try to do something a Pokemon could but they couldn’t, I flinched. Something just felt…  _ bad _ . Mama asked me about it, but I didn’t really have words for it. It was just a bad feeling, and after talking with some of the Pokemon they had the same feeling.

Hazel, Vivian, Leanne and Yvonne have also been spending more time with me. Leanne even asked Rhodo what day it was after she was taken in for a fight. It was over a week since we’d been taken here, according to Mama. Not two weeks yet, but getting close.

Leanne and Yvonne I could feel were still grieving for their family, but spending time with me and Mama seemed to help them both. From what I could figure out, even though we weren’t from the same family we also were kinda family? It was a weird feeling, but not a bad one at all.

Hazel and Vivian though… I thought they’d spend more time with their dad, but they felt kinda scared. If I asked about it though, they said it was okay. Which it  _ definitely _ wasn’t, they were mentioning how he was talking to himself in ways he never used to. And when he went to fight, before he passed out from trying to use abilities he seemed…  _ wild _ . 

One second he’d be asking them to stay calm, another he’d be ready to attack, and the next he’d be trying to keep himself away from everyone. And when he was closer to me, it felt like there were three main totally different emotions fighting each other. One of them I recognized, since I’d felt it the first time I met him, but the other two were new.

And they were winning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My eyes were still heavy as I woke up in the room with everyone else, feeling a lot better from the medicine Rhodo had been giving me. My ears slowly raised up, then flicked towards a weird rustling. I shook my head a little to try and feel who it was.

_ Hazel’s dad? And Hydreigon? _

The lights in the room still weren’t on yet, but that didn’t bother me or Mama. We could see just fine. Mama’s tails were around me, but I could hear his heartbeat. It was  _ fast _ .

_ Is something going on? _

I moved one of Mama’s tails aside, to get a better look.

_ Right in front of me _ there was a face. A face with several sharp, jagged teeth in a few rows going down an open maw. His hair was wild, like he hadn’t touched it in days. Right next to the face were his hands, reaching for me. But his  _ eyes… _ I couldn’t see them. I couldn’t see the colored part at all. Just the whites, and the red lines trailing from the bottom connecting to where his eyelid was.

There was only one thing I felt from him. I’d felt it before, from Ron and Rush, but this time? It was different.

It was maddening.

It was  _ hunger. _

I screamed, and Mama immediately woke up, looking around before her eyes fell on Paul, and the Hydreigon floating with a mix of sadness and glee beside him. Her eyes narrowed and a purple glow enveloped me as I was thrust behind her, the collar around her neck sparking to life as bolts of electricity shot through her.

Several other people were waking up by now, the lights above burning to life, but not quickly enough for anyone but Mama to do anything.

Paul lunged towards her as she got to her feet, electricity sending her tails shuddering. The temperature suddenly dropped a couple dozen degrees as the air itself froze, swirling into a ball held within Mama’s open maw.

It then  _ exploded _ outwards, a single beam of frost and deathly cold illuminating the room briefly in a pale blue light. It hit Paul right in the chest, sending him crashing through an unoccupied bed before it froze him to the wall.

Hydreigon swooped in to attack, Mama turning her gaze to him. Her fur was all on end from the electricity coursing through her as it forced her to her knees. Panic filled my heart, as the thought of him ripping off Mama’s head rushed through my head.

Until a blur of green and red streaked over us both, knocking Hydreigon to the floor. Their three heads were snapping violently, but Yvonne kept them all pinned beneath her with her fan tail poised to stab them at any false move.

I went to hug Mama, aftershocks rushing through me. I didn’t care. It hurt a little bit, but nowhere near as much as Mama was hurting. I could  _ feel _ her pain. I didn’t want her to hurt. Even if it meant I took some of it, I didn’t want her to keep hurting.

There was a sudden cascade of ringing as the ice around Paul shattered, the shards falling to the floor. He only took a couple steps before Eclipse and Leanne  _ slammed _ him into the wall, his head knocking against it.

Hazel screamed, but Paul only snarled. I could feel fury building in Eclipse. “ _ Oh no ya don’t. _ ” She grabbed his face and slammed it into the wall. Again and again, as his snarling got quieter and quieter.

When she let go, his head lolled to one side. His heart was still beating, but at a much less manic pace. The two slowly stopped restraining him before propping his unconscious body up against the wall.

I could feel lots of things from lots of people, but there was only one thing on my mind.

“{Mama!}”

{I-I’m alright, my child…} Her form shuddered as she collapsed on the bed, her tails curling around me. {Do not worry…}

Tears filled my eyes. “{B-but you’re hurt! W-we gotta get you help!}”

Mabel and Haley were running over, Haley pulling out an egg for Mama. {Please, eat it. Quickly!}

Mama nodded, chomping down on it and swallowing. I felt that a bunch of the pain went away, but not all of it. {Thank you…}

I buried my face in Mama’s side, hugging her tight. “{Y-you gotta be okay… don’t die, Mama!}”

She nuzzled her head into me weakly. {I will not die… not from that.} Her tails curled around me more. {I must stay with you, my child.}

I heard Leanne running over to Yvonne while Eclipse ran to me. “Hey, Aurora! You okay?!”

I glanced at her, nodding. “{Y-yeah, but Mama…}”

She hugged us both. “Easy, easy. It’ll be fine. She’ll be fine.” She glared up at the ceiling before yelling at the top of her lungs. “ _ HEY! _ Wake the fuck up!”

There was no response from any speakers, but I shuddered as I heard thumping against the ground. Everyone else started noticing as well, Eclipse getting in front of me as Yuna ran to her side as well.

The door hissed open, but the way to the hallway was blocked with a huge white and green fluffy form. Something deep in my brain blew away the fog and told me they were an Abomasnow.  _ Several _ Abomasnow, and some grunts as well.

They glared at Yvonne and Leanne, who glanced warily at Hydreigon. Leanne backed away, gesturing for Yvonne to follow. Yvonne let him go, her tail still poised to stab.

Which she almost needed, because the moment she got off he went right for her neck. The sadness in his heart was gone. There was only  _ hunger. _

A massive green paw shot out and grabbed Hydreigon, then freezing him in a block of ice. Another Abomasnow went over to Paul and picked him up, giving him a similar treatment. They then started walking out the door, the grunts with them. I noticed Jean and Indra weren’t with them.

“ _ Dad! _ ”

Hazel was running for them, holding her hand out towards them with Vivian right beside her. The Abomasnow carrying her father turned around and growled at them when they got too close. A grunt gestured for the Abomasnow to keep walking before sneering at them.

“Go back to sleep,” He said dismissively before turning back around. Hazel and Vivian dashed right past him and ran straight to Paul.

“Dad! Dad look at me please! What happened?” Hazel begged for answers, but he couldn’t hear her through the ice. One of the grunts shoved her to the side sending her to the ground. Vivian, Guinevere and Chestnut ran over to her in her defense. The grunt stared down at her with eyes colder than frost from the coldest Abomasnow.

_ “Go. To. Sleep,”  _ He accentuated. In reality what he meant was to get out of his way. He didn’t care about their pleas, he just wanted to get this over with. Hazel watched from the ground tears streaming down her face as she watched her father be taken away.

“I love you Daddy… please, don’t go…” She whispered as the doors closed behind them, tears beginning to stream down her face. Vivian nuzzled close to her feeling just as terrible. Her heart didn’t want to admit it, but her dad and Hydreigon had been gone for a long time. 

Guinevere ushered Hazel into her chest to weep. Her pain was similar to Leanne’s when her family died, but she felt a bit more… prepared? At the bottom of her heart I could sense she knew something like this would happen to her father and they would take her away.

Hazel quietly sobbed into Guinevere’s arms, slumped onto her. The realization her heart made up was catching up with her mind. The thing she feared most finally happened and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Her body went into a state of shock, her limbs lost what little power she had as all she could do was reach for whatever comfort she could gather.

Chestnut curled around all of them while Guinevere held her tight, making sure she was safe and warm while humming a little song to her to calm her down. Mama and I watched from the distance, even after what they tried to do to us… my heart  _ ached  _ for Hazel, my chest hurt and I had to rub the water from my eyes. 

_ And they still don’t care at all... _

My heart mourned for Paul and Hydreigon. For Hydreigon it was more recent, but Paul… he died two weeks ago. It had just taken us all this long to realize.

The room was quiet, then. The lights were on as ever, but no one spoke a word. We were all giving Hazel the space to grieve, Guinevere and Chestnut easily being the most experienced with this. Mama was still hurting and I was staying with her. I felt the pain from before rising again in Leanne and Yvonne’s heart, hesitancy holding her back. Yvonne only gently nudged her, and she nodded slowly before going to Hazel and Vivian to help.

_ To be an adult who gets it… _

Mabel and Benny were staying together, Haley and Bors right with their partners. I could feel they understood what was happening better than most, but were distraught all the same. Ron and Rush were with some other people I didn’t recognize, and Paris was with Legolas off to the side. I could feel she cared, a  _ lot _ . She just didn’t have the words. Something told me though that if there was anything she could’ve done to help, she would’ve.

When the door opened again, everyone tensed up. I noticed Hazel shudder and start crying harder again. This time though, there were no Abomasnow. Only Jean and Indra.

Both felt pretty shaken up themselves as Jean gestured to me. “We need to get Ivane to Rhodo. Please…”   
I could feel Eclipse’s anger boil while my mind was whirling.  _ How is she on the same side as the others? And Rhodo? It doesn’t make any sense… _

Pushing that aside for now, I nudged Mama gently. “{W-we gotta go get you help…}”

She sighed, shuddering and slowly stood up and tenderly getting to the ground. I was afraid she’d fall, but she just gave me a weary smile. {I am well enough, my child.}

I nodded, slowly walking with her.  _ I know I was the one who had trouble walking before, but… I’d take it being me over her… _

Jean and Indra led us down the hallway, and I stayed right next to Mama the whole time. If a grunt looked at Mama and felt any joy from that, I just growled at them. They stopped pretty quick. I don’t think it was me they were scared of, just when Mama got better.  _ They just wanna pick on people who can’t fight back… _

She then did the eye thing in front of Rhodo’s door and knocked. “Rhodo? I’m here. Ivane and Aurora are with me.”

Rhodo opened the door and greeted us all with a serious expression as he helped us put Mama in a pokemon bed. He began looking over Mama to see what was wrong.

“Thanks to the looser collar, your shocks weren’t as bad as they could’ve been,” He noted as he began spraying some liquid on her from a weird bottle, mostly red but with a yellow top and the same color red circle with a hole close to the top. “Still not ideal, but I’d rate the damage you received to be around… a couple of unpleasant Shock Wave attacks. Your heart was jump started quite a bit, but some cheri juice will calm it down.” 

Mama nodded, still exhausted and her tails occasionally jittering from aftershocks. Rhodo stepped aside and went into the mini fridge before taking out a box of cheri juice and a bowl. Instead of the apple juice boxes he gave us before, this one looked much less bombastic and a lot more practical. Just the berry with some words I couldn’t read due to their size about how it helped. He poured it in the bowl and placed it by Mama’s face. 

She started pulling it up into her mouth with her tongue, curling it a little and dragging it. Much as my heart was in the floor, I couldn’t help but stick out my tongue a little and brush my finger against it.  _ It feels a little rough, kinda like how Mama’s looks. _

“Good,” Rhodo whispered to himself before speaking to me. “Notice how her body is relaxing the more she drinks. Cheri berries cure paralysis, but they are also excellent at calming you down. Perfect for stress relief or in this case a bad shock.”

I looked at the juice, then at the tree Rhodo had in his room. There were a couple really small, green ones on the end of some branches. Around that tree there were several others, with different colored leaves and either little flowers or small greenish berries as well. The only grown ones were the pecha and oran trees.  _ Do all berries do something? _

Though while that was going on, I could hear that Mama’s heartbeat was getting much more stable and going back to how it normally was. Her tails weren’t jittering nearly as much either.

“Now that she’s looking better it’s about time to give you your medicine now,” Rhodo said to me as he got his usual. My medicine and juice to wash it down. “You’ve been getting better over the last few days, so I expect you should be all better any day now.”

Rhodo then turned to Mama who had stopped drinking and felt… concerned. Rather than speak to Rhodo her eyes shifted to the door cautiously. I followed her eyes, to where Jean and Indra had left. There were footsteps at the door that had paused a moment, but they kept going. Once they did she breathed a small sigh of relief.

Rhodo turned to the door before realization dawned. “If you’re worried about defending yourself, in this case you won’t get punished. If they do try, I’ll vouch for you. Hydreigon are prone to violence and have a higher level of instability compared to other pokemon so it’s very important they stay in decent environments or they… snap. It’s not their fault, it’s their biology. The fact this one took so long to attack must mean they really tried not to hurt anyone.”

My heart dropped even  _ further _ at that. “{So if Paul and Hydreigon had been able to go home…}”

He was thoughtful for a moment. “If they were home… they could’ve gotten some better help.”

My eyes narrowed as I glared at the floor. I could feel the same flame Mama had in me, a little bit, growing.  _ They could’ve been okay… but because of the humans here, making Pokemon listen to them all the time and doing all this just cuz they wanna, he went crazy. And they keep killing people.  _ **_And_ ** _ they apparently aren’t even  _ **_done_ ** _ , they’re just gonna keep doing more stuff like this! Why would- _

I yelped a bit as the collar around my neck shocked me, breaking me out of my train of thought. A couple embers floated up around me, and Mama curled a couple of her tails around me. {I am here, Aurora.}

Rhodo got up and handed me my own cheri juice box. “This should settle you down a bit so the collar doesn’t shock ya again.”

I nodded slowly, taking it. I didn’t feel  _ better _ , but I wanted to punch something less after drinking it.  _ Still though... _

“I know everything about this is  _ beyond  _ frustrating.” He meant it, but his heart was so tired that even his frustration was a bit muted.  _ What happened to him?  _ “There’s… I don’t have much power here and not even I can save Paul and Hydreigon from what comes next, but… I know he has a daughter. You two are friends right? She’s undergone tremendous loss and she just needs to feel less alone in the world right now. Just be there for her. This situation is crap, but it’ll do you both good to at least shoulder each other’s pain.”

My mind went back to how when I held Mama before, some of the electricity went from her to me. And helped her hurt less.  _ Emotions work sorta the same? _ All the same I nodded, clenching my fists as I looked up at him, determined. “{I’m gonna help!}”

Rhodo gave me the biggest small smile I’d seen from him so far. It was still super small, but ever so slightly bigger. He went to the cupboard and pulled out a metal cylinder with a black ring around it about a fourth away from the top along with a pokemon bowl. “Next time you see the girl with the Eevee, give them this. It’s not much, but… it should help with their grieving. It tastes pretty good, so I think I made it right.”

My ears tilted back a bit as I looked at it and shook it slightly. There was a similar sound to the juice boxes and bottle Rhodo took out that had my medicine in it, but I didn’t see a way to get it. I looked up at him. “{Uh… sure, but how do you open it?}”

“Ah your memories,” He hummed before turning the top of the cylinder and opening it up, the smell of berries wafting out. “It’s a canteen for storing drinks.”

I nodded as he closed it again. Mama felt a lot better than before, and I wasn’t getting sleepy after medicine anymore. A little bit, but I didn’t wanna nap all the time anymore.  _ I dunno if staying awake and seeing all the awful or being woken up by awful is worse, though… _

He gave it to me before turning back to Mama. “Ya feeling better, Ivane?”

She nodded, shaking her head down to her tails before sitting and looking at him, her tails waving slowly. {Indeed. Thank you for the assistance.}

He smiled another teeny smile, staying a respectful distance away before looking at us both. “Do you want to go back now, or later?”

I shook my head, holding up the canteen. He gave a tiny nod before looking at Jean. “Can you…?”

She nodded. “Of course.” Indra hopped off the perch he had in the room, and Mama got off the bed much more easily. There was a tiny shiver in her step, but mostly it was gone and  _ definitely _ way better than earlier. I waved to Rhodo as we walked out, but Mama stopped and looked behind her at him for a moment.

{You are interesting, human.}

Rhodo tilted his head curiously similarly to how Ron and Rush would, giving him a more youthful expression for a brief second. “Was that a compliment?”

Mama simply chuckled before making her way out. Like I thought, as we were walking back, the grunts were giving us a  _ much _ wider berth now that Mama was feeling better. I didn’t even need to see her face to feel her eyes rolling.  _ They’re cowardly bullies. That’s it. _

When we got back to the room, Guinevere and Chestnut were still with Hazel and Vivian. Leanne and Yvonne too, with Yvonne waving her tail slightly at us to beckon us.

As we got closer, the wave of despair Hazel and Vivian were putting out was  _ intense _ . The other four’s sadness just helped to heighten the waves crashing towards us. I stumbled, shuddering for a moment. Mama looked at me concerned, but I just shook my head and kept going.

Hazel’s ears swiveled around and she looked at us, her eyes red and puffy and tears still streaming down her face. I held up the canteen to her. “{Rhodo said you’d like this… I hope it helps.}”

She could barely move her arm to grab it, so Guinevere gently took it, giving me a small smile, before I put the bowl on the bed next to them. She opened it up and poured a little into the bowl before giving it to Hazel.

“It smells like home…”

I tilted my head, confused, but Hazel found the strength to grab the opened canteen and put it to her lips. She took a small sip, a small bit of joy breaking through the waves of sadness. Vivian was drinking her share while Hazel took long, slow sips, savoring it.

We didn’t interrupt her, and Mama hopped on the bed while I got on so we could sit with her. When she was finished I could still hear some in the canteen, which she poured into Vivian’s bowl. She held close to Guinevere, but looked at me.

“In Floaroma, we use berries and dried, then boiled flowers to make a drink… M-mom always used to make it for me when I was sad…”

I felt water in my eyes again and I hugged her quickly after. She started crying, but not as hard as before. Chestnut lifted up her tail to let Vivian crawl into Hazel’s lap, and Mama kept her tails around us. Leanne hugged us all, and Yvonne embraced us with her wings. As awful as everything was… we were there for each other.

_ Rhodo said that things were gonna get worse… and that I should be there for Hazel and Vivian. Everyone needs someone to be there for them, especially now… I’m gonna be there for them. I’m gonna punch all the grunt meanie assholes and we’re gonna be okay together. _

**_~~Iron Island, Year 8520, Damidar, Tenebrice 24th~~_ **

As hard as it was, we all managed to get to sleep last night. Hazel and Vivian slept with Guinevere and Chestnut, while Leanne and Yvonne slept closer to me and Mama. Even after what’d happened, I felt safe. Since Mama kept me safe.

Mabel brought us food today. Sometimes it was them, sometimes it was Guinevere, sometimes it was other adults. Though I always saw them all bringing the bowls of gruel to kids, who they were going to just depended.

After we’d finished eating frozen gruel, Mama nuzzled me gently. {Would you like to go to Hazel and Vivian, my child?}

I nodded, hugging her before I got up. We still had to go to Rhodo today, but Jean came at what felt like the same time and it wasn’t that time yet. Leanne was helping with giving out gruel to the other kids, so she’d probably come by after.

Hazel was laying under her blankets with Vivian, who nudged her as we came closer. {Hazel, it’s Aurora and Ivane.}

She rolled over slowly, eyes still red and staying under her covers. Mama hopped on the bed while I climbed on. “Hey…”

My ears drooped, but I just shook my head and hugged her gently. “{You don’t gotta say stuff if you don’t wanna.}”

She didn’t respond, but moved a little bit more into the hug while Mama laid with us. Both of their hair was messier than normal; we had showers and big trays full of clean dust, but they’d been preoccupied.

We didn’t really do anything. We just laid there together, being there for each other. Leanne, Yvonne, Guinevere and Chestnut eventually came over, Leanne smiling sadly and ruffling my hair. “Hey Aurora. You holding up?”

I nodded, and she was about to say something else when a sudden spark of surprise flew through her. “Did… you always have two tails?”

I blinked, confused.  _ What? _ Then I looked at my tails. While one was the same as before, mostly a dirty red with a bluish white fluffy curl at the end, I now had another right next to that one that was pure white like my first tail at first. They moved together when I tried to move them, Hazel and Vivian having looked up.

Mama smiled a bit. {Do not worry, my child. That is natural for a Vulpix. Typically our kits start with one tail, then grow in another five over the coming weeks. They stay at that number until evolution, at which point we Ninetales have nine.}

Hazel looked curious. “What… does it feel like? Having two tails?”

I blinked. “{Uh… like I’ve got two tails?}”

A bit of surprise sparked in her before she smiled a Rhodo smile, laughing a little. She rubbed her eyes a little. “Yeah… they would, wouldn’t they?”

After that? We all sat together for a while. We didn’t really talk, or anything. We were just there for each other. Some other kids came up to Guinevere every so often, but most of them got what was going on and left us be. I did have to leave for a while to go to Rhodo’s, and when I got back Owain and Sue were fighting another Samurott.

Owain, of course, was making the most of this opportunity.

The other Samurott looked  _ very _ confused, while Owain was holding what looked like a sword? I did notice that Sue had one less shell in her front legs than usual.

“You might know everything I’m going to do, but that’s not going to help you  _ because I know everything you’re going to do! _ Strange, isn’t it?  _ Hraaaah! _ ” He lunged forwards with the sword, but I could tell by his smile there wasn’t any intent to actually  _ hit _ with it. He was making it a play.

The Samurott decided to respond in kind, pulling out their own swords from their front legs and parrying his strike. They went in for another blow, but Sue pulled out her own sword shell thingy and blocked it.

Owain hopped back, holding the sword in front of him before pointing dramatically. “We shall not fall this day! We all will overcome, persevere and outlast this dreadful place! Come now, our battle will be legendary!”

He and Sue both charged at the Samurott, Sue blocking both their opponent’s strikes with her own while Owain flanked to the side with a slight skid. He feinted, faking a sword slash before kicking their leg out from under them.

They stumbled slightly, getting a slash across their chest from Sue. They then went in for another strike, but Owain popped up in front of them and parried, a smile on his face. “You shan’t forget about me!”

{It’s hard to,} they responded before their lower body was enveloped in rushing water that carried them around the room, cascading on the wall before going straight for the duo. Their blades were now enveloped in a glowing, deep blue watery light crossed in front of them.

Owain was forced to dodge while Sue met them head on, horns clashing as her blade shone with green light and shattered the aura around the Samurott’s swords. The two clashed head on for a moment, neither backing down, until Owain ran in and held his arms out in front of them. “You shall not hurt my comrade!”

They went back for a stab, but Owain grabbed their arm quickly and pulled it towards himself. For a moment it looked like he was going to get hit, but I noticed him move slightly to the side before catching it between his torso and his arm. A couple people gasped, but I was just confused.  _ He’s fine? His jacket’s a little messed up, but no blood exploded out of him or anything. There’s no organs on the end of the sword. Why’d he do that? _

He then dropped his sword, holding his side with his hand. “Ah, my tale ends here!” He staggered backwards, falling dramatically into Sue’s arms while the other Samurott looked  _ very _ confused.

“Oh, the horror!” he cried, flinging his hand over his head so it was lolling above it. “The pain! I cannot go on! Dear Sue, carry on my legacy! Escape this dreadful place, ensure my legend is spread far and wide-”

“Stop. No. The battle is over. All participants leave the arena.  _ Silently _ ,” the voice on the intercom interrupted sounding exceedingly exasperated.

The Samurott put away their swords, wincing slightly as the collars turned back on. Owain, however, didn’t stop. “Oh, the cruelty! To not even be allowed to finish my final words! Truly, this audience has no appreciation for the finer arts!”

There was a small beep, and both Sue and Owain’s bodies were wracked with electricity as the collars pulsed. Both of them winced, gritting their teeth, and Sue only just keeping hold on Owain. However, in their faces, I saw something. Even though they were too far away for me to feel anything, I got the feeling that they were being quiet now  _ because _ that’s what the evil lady didn’t want.

She wanted satisfaction. And they weren’t gonna give it to her.

Eventually it stopped, and both of them shuddered before standing up proper. Sue put Owain on the ground so she could stand a bit easier, and he patted her leg before shaking himself off, sighing. “Tough crowd, jeez.”

At that Sue got shocked for a few more moments. Owain’s eyes widened and he was about to say something, but Sue just shook her head and gave a middle finger with her claws towards the platform. Glaring.

And then she got shocked again.

It was Owain glaring this time. “Racist much?”

“That was a reminder that your actions do not simply impact you, but your allies as well, #180. If you cannot fight seriously for yourself, fight for Samurott’s survival. I can assure you your next opponent will not be as fond of your ‘theatrics’,” the voice continued.

Owain glanced at Sue, who nodded, before he crossed his arms and looked up. Legs still shaking, but standing strong. “We’re plenty serious. Serious about doing things other than just whatever  _ you _ want. Surprise surprise, people need a bit of entertainment here! We’re gonna provide,  _ and _ kick ass doing it.”

“Your foolish actions will cost you. Make light of your arena battles again and the consequences will be grave. You will be envious of the Hydreigon and #43 once-”

She was cut off, which caught everyone’s attention. When the voice spoke next though, it wasn’t the evil lady. It was far deeper, and somehow even colder. I shuddered, and Mama glared. Recognizing it from the forest.

“Clearly you are insubordinate enough to require your consequences to be laid plain. Continue as you have, if your desire is to be strapped to a table and dissected by my associate  _ while you still live and scream. _ ”

At that, Owain and Sue just glanced at each other and walked away. No quips, no nods or smiles, nothing. The screen went dark after that, and no more voices came over the speakers.

I shuddered, looking at Mama worried. “{W-what does ‘dissected’ mean?}”

She grimaced. {It… is not something pleasant. I would hope that you never find out what it is. If it comes up, however… I will tell you then.}

I nodded, hugging her while Leanne was glaring and staying close to us.  _ They really don’t care at all about anything but what they want, do they…? Is this what humans are like? They just need an opportunity and they’ll turn into monsters? _

My mind went to Rhodo. How he’d given me and Mama medicine and help, how he gave everyone muffins, how sad he felt. How he wanted to help us all, and gave Hazel a drink from her home to do it. How all the other Grunts were cruel, but Jean never called us by number and did her best to help us feel better.

_ No… Not all of them. Just most of them. _

**_~~Iron Island, Year 8520, Damidar, Tenebrice 26th~~_ **

After we’d eaten, the door opened. Jean was standing there. “Aurora? Ivane? You need to come with me.”

Leanne gave us a worried look, but seemed calmer after Mama gave her a look in return. We followed out the door, and I looked up at her confused. “{Where’re we going? I thought Rhodo said I was okay?}”

She paused, but nodded. “We’re… not going to Rhodo yet. They... want to see how well you can fight.”

~~~

**Log Entry**

_ -With the fusion process having been completed we may now begin Phase 2: Combat. No casualties as of yet, but it seems despite retaining several of their pokemon partners’ body parts via fusion, none of the fusions seem to be able to use their powers without causing extreme pain to themselves.  _

_ -The most worthwhile mentions are the rumbling of pebbles for the Rockruff fusion and the adept use of the scalchop sword for the Samurott fusion. Once again the younger fusions are the outlier with the Vulpix fusion being the defining example. -They have at least some ability to use their powers, meanwhile she has most of it. Interestingly enough as well, the Hydreigon fusion became highly unstable akin to normal Hydreigon when overly stressed.  _

_ -According to the cameras, it seems they were intent on devouring the Vulpix fusion and Ninetales in their sleep. The Hydreigon is useless to us in that rogue state so it has been put down, but as we speak we are prepping dissection of the Hydreigon fusion. We plan on analyzing his brain and body to confirm multiple theories I have concocted. I am remiss to admit my glee to begin. _

_ -The Samurott pair continue to try my patience. Their incipient theater and open defiance disgusts me, but it seems they responded well to Leader’s authority. They’d do well to remember their place. _

_ -One of the elite grunts has done well in handling the fusions so far. They are much more receptive to her presence than the others. I believe I may very well assign her to be their main transporter. _

_ -Judging by the medical reports the Vulpix fusion has been inflicted with a type of illness never before seen in humans. Although it is commonly seen in pokemon… once again she seems to balance the scales of humanity and pokemon much more evenly than the rest. Soon, I shall see how her powers fare in combat. For the glory of Team Galactic and in my genius’ honor, she’d best not disappoint. _

_ -Unfortunately, I do not have a Kalolan Vulpix on hand to compare her to and the Ninetales is far too developed to be a fair comparison, thus I’ve asked one of the admins to breed one for immediate use. Soon we will have the ideal example to observe. _

_ -The medic has also insisted on adding their names to the file. Not that it matters as I’ve memorized their numbers, but so be it. _

**_#001_ ** _ Fused Kalolan Vulpix (Aurora) & Kalolan Ninetales (Ivane) Status: Nominal _

_ #006 Fused Pyroar & Pyroar Status: Nominal _

_ #011 Fused Magcargo & Slugma Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

_ #019 Fused Carnivine & Carnivine Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

**_#020_ ** _ Fused Furret (Guinevere) & Furret (Chestnut) Status: Nominal _

**_#033_ ** _ Fused Eevee (Hazel) & Eevee (Vivian) Status: Recovering (Emotional Instability) _

**_#043_ ** _ Fused Hydreigon (Paul) & Hydreigon (Tobias) Status: Deceased (Unstable, reverted to feral instincts, used for dissection) _

**_#053_ ** _ Fused Flygon (Leanne) & Flygon (Yvonne) Status: Nominal _

**_#068_ ** _ Fused Decidueye (Paris) & Decidueye (Legolas) Status: Nominal _

_ #072 Fused Swampert & Swampert Status: Nominal _

**_#078_ ** _ Fused Phantump (Razin) & Phantump (Urie) Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

_ #079 Fused Glalie & Glalie Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

**_#085_ ** _ Fused Blissey (Mabel) & Blissey (Haley) Status: Nominal _

**_#086_ ** _ Fused Bewear (Benny) & Bewear (Bors) Status: Nominal _

**_#123_ ** _ Fused Female Gallade (Lucia) & Gallade (Arden) Status: Recovering _

**_#132_ ** _ Fused Pachirisu (Ron) & Pachirisu (Rush) Status: Nominal _

**_#134_ ** _ Fused Silvally (Clive) & Silvally (Elpis) Status: Nominal _

_ #143 Fused Electrode & Electrode Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

**_#158_ ** _ Fused Rockruff (Koko) Status: Recovering _

**_#159_ ** _ Fused Dusk Lycanroc (Eclipse) & Dusk Lycanroc (Yuna) Status: Recovering _

_ #163 Fused Spiritomb & Spiritomb Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

**_#180_ ** _ Fused Samurott (Owain) & Samurott (Sue) Status: Recovering (Irritatingly well) _

**Author’s Note** : We’re slowly moving into the main part of this place. Oh, you thought that the earlier parts were awful? Nah, that was the appetizer. Now it’s time to start the first meal of the main course. For the record, part of me feels awful about all this and part of me is just ‘yes pain’, but something you should know? I prefer writing stories with happy endings. So don’t expect everything to be like this.

Oh, and on the subject of Paul and Hydreigon. That was specifically him going insane, and not a manifestation of an alternate personality taking over or something. I wanted to make that clear, since far too many things portray folk with alternate personalities as evil for that fact. And that’s not right. So I wanted folk to rest assured that that’s not what’s happening here. Look forward to next time, when we get to see what Aurora’s first fight is like!


	4. Chapter 4: Define Humanity

_ One’s own life is a curious thing. To be surrounded by so many others, just like yourself, and yet no way to connect to their core. No way to truly know who they are. Unless, of course, you are able to see their very essence yourself. An ability young Aurora is merely scratching the surface of. Such an ability is rare to begin with; yet rarer are those who can properly utilize it. Thus far, it has allowed her knowledge of those around her she would not have otherwise had. In the future… well, that is what we are here to watch. _

**_~~Iron Island, Year 8520, Damidar, Calta 26th~~_ **

Mama’s gaze shot to Jean and Indra. {Fight  _ what _ , precisely,} She growled dangerously, tails bristling.

Jean grimaced. “I know you don’t trust me, but trust I don’t have a choice in this at least. I… don’t think it’ll be  _ too _ bad?”

At that I gave her a  _ very _ odd look.  _ That’s not what Mama said at all? I guess she sounded a little angry, but… wha? _ When she noticed, I tried telling her instead. “{What’re we gonna fight?}”

It took her a moment before her eyes lit up in realization. “ _ Oh _ , you want to know what you’ll be fighting.”  _ Yeah, that’s what me and Mama asked. Humans really can’t understand Pokemon, huh? That’s stupid. _ “I… don’t know, unfortunately. But the fights thus far have mostly been against equals, so… I’d guess a vulpix or ninetales?”

Mama nodded, relaxing ever so slightly. We’d seen that that was the case for everyone thus far, so it only made sense that’d be the case for us too.

We stopped in front of a door I recognized. It was the same one I’d heard Eclipse behind, on the way back from Rhodo before. It opened, giving a path directly into the glass enclosure. Jean looked at us both. “I’ll be waiting here to take you to Rhodo afterwards. And… good luck.”

I nodded, walking with Mama. We didn’t have much of a choice. The floor here was still metal, but the floor in the arena was a dull gray that felt kinda… not  _ soft _ . It wasn’t hard either. Sorta springy? It was like our beds, but harder. Lights above us blared, a constant low hum filling the room.

All around us stood the various grunts with the white coats. I instinctively went to Mama, who hid me in her tails. {There is no reason for them to gawk stupidly as humans are wont to do.}

After a moment, a door on the other side opened. I was expecting a ninetales like Mama, or a vulpix, or the Sneasel from before or something. Instead what came hopping out was… a seed? A yellow seed with brown stripes, big eyes, a smiling face and a green stem with two leaves shooting off to the side. Who smelled kinda earthy.

I could feel the surprise from Mama as her eyes widened, then she sat down slowly. {I… was not expecting this.}

The yellow seed jumped at our arrival. {Hewwo!}

I raised my hand hesitantly, pausing halfway before waving. “{Hey?}”

{I’m Sunkern! Are you my playmate today?} She asked.

“{Playmate?}” I asked, tilting my head in confusion.  _ What’s going on? _

She hopped around eagerly as much as she could without limbs. {The blue people told me when I get into the playroom that I can spar with someone cool! So you two have gotta be those people!}

I looked at Mama, confusion written across my face. She smiled. {Pokemon will often play-fight together, my child. That is what she’s asking.}

I looked back at the sunkern. Happy, bouncing and a bundle of joy. My mind went back to the fights Eclipse and Owain had had. How Lucia had fought tooth and nail against another Gallade.

My ears drooped as I looked back at Mama. “{But… won’t that hurt her? I don’t wanna hurt her…}”

{Heya!} Sunkern shouted again, gripping my attention. {Can we start now? I wanna play!}

I looked back at Mama again. She nodded, gesturing with a couple of her tails towards her.  _ I feel like a meanie butt. _ I turned back towards Sunkern. “{I uh, I’ll try and play?}”

{Yay!} She jumped for joy, only stopping when the intercom turned on.

“You may begin,” Was all they said.

{Now that we’re both ready, Imma hit you with my bullet seed attack! Watch out!} Sunkern took a deep breath before she started shooting several dozen small, green tinged seed pellets at me. I yelped, leaping to the side out of the way and dodging around them.

_ Since when is playing shooting seeds at people?! _

Some part of my instincts though told me this was okay. It felt…  _ right _ , somehow. Like I didn’t need to be afraid of play fighting with her.

The other part felt awful about play fighting with a gleeful little seed girl.

I started jumping around, weaving through the seeds to get closer to her. Within a few seconds, I’d gotten close to her while she was taking a breath after firing a volley of seeds. When I thought about what to do though, I hesitated. She was breathing kinda hard.  _ Her eyes are so big and she feels so happy and nice and what am I even meant to do? I don’t wanna kick her! _

I watched as Sunkern caught her breath before she shot  _ more  _ seeds, this time right in my face. I yelped again, holding my hands in front to block them. “{Ow! Ow ow ow ow ow!}”

Without even thinking, a small panel of ice formed on my hands to block the seeds. They bounced off of it, my hands no longer stinging. Or my face.

Sunkern stopped short and gazed at me, eyes wide. {So you’re of winter…} Sunkern bounced backwards slightly thinking about her next move. {But I’m not scared of some silly snow!} The leaves on the top of her head sharpened before turning a luminescent white. {Here we go, cut attack!}

Sunkern leaped forwards, leaves first with Cut. This time though, I darted to the side away before grabbing her, then throwing her across the room. Much quicker and further than I expected, bonking against the wall. I winced. “{Are you okay?}”

It took a second for Sunkern to bounce back onto her feet, shaking off some dust. {Owwie… I’m okay! Let’s go again!} Sunkern hopped back into battle with shining leaves once more. I had to dodge a couple strikes before leaping up and away, landing on my feet and dashing back around to grab and throw her again. Some part of me thought about trying to shoot fire or ice back at her, but… it felt too mean.

She shook her head again after getting up. {You’re pretty good at playing, but… my papa taught me this move!} Sunkern focused really hard into her leaves this time surrounding them in a verdant light. She jumped into the air before sending several sharp leaves curving and slicing through the air right towards me.

Unlike the seeds from before, they didn’t stop if I dodged them. I kept trying to get in close to throw her again, but they’d just whirl back around through the air at me. Some crumpled against the walls or floor, but more kept coming. I thought back to how Mama made the beam of cold from her mouth.  _ Maybe… _

I swung my hands around me in a circle, a bunch of snowflakes cracking a little as they formed and filled the air with a cold breeze. It sent the leaves off course and Sunkern got caught in the cold, falling onto her side after a few more snowflakes hit her.

My eyes widened and I bolted over, picking her up gently. My heart froze. “{Are you okay?! Don’t die! I don’t wanna hurt you!}”

Sunkern got up a bit slower this time, but she shook it off easily enough. {Ooof, I don’t think I’m ready for winter.} She turned to me and hopped happily. {That was great! You’re lots of fun to play with!}

The chill in my heart warmed as I breathed a sigh of relief, smiling back at her. “{Thanks, you too. I didn’t know you could throw leaves and stuff at people.}”

{My papa taught me!} Sunkern hopped happily at the thought of him before looking around. {I haven’t seen him in awhile, but next time I’ll tell him I made a new friend!}

My ears drooped, my eyes watering a bit before I hugged them close. “{You’ll see your papa again…}” I pointed over at Mama. “{That’s my Mama over there.}”

Sunkern peeked over and waved a leaf at my mama who returned it with a nod. {Your mama looks nice. I think her and papa could be friends! Hey what’s your name? I wanna play again sometime!}

“{I’m Aurora,}” I said softly, “{What’s your name?}”

She tilted her head confused. {It’s Sunkern silly. Did you forget?}

I blinked.  _ But… wait, what? _ “{Nono, I didn’t, I just… lotsa Pokemon I’ve met have names that aren’t what they are. Sorry, I didn’t mean to be a meanie…}”

{They do!? I didn’t know we could do that…} Sunkern looked genuinely stunned.

The intercom turned on once again. “Sunkern is dismissed. Bring in the next opponent.”

My eyes widened, the world almost slowing down as I gazed at her. I thought about how she’d probably been taken from her papa, how I didn’t know if I’d get to see her again ever, how I didn’t know if she was gonna be  _ alive _ much longer.

“{Shine!}”

{Shine?}

I hugged her, trying not to cry. “{Do you want your name to be Shine?}”

{Shine…} Sunkern was thoughtful for a moment, until her heart filled with happiness. {Shine shine shine! Like the sunshine! I love it, Aurora, tha-}

Shine’s glee was cut off as she turned into scarlet mist right in my arms. I couldn’t help but recoil as her feelings, right in my arms one moment, were  _ gone _ the next. One of the grunts from above had recalled her back into her pokeball before pocketing it and exchanging it for a new one. The grunt clicked the new pokeball and a small orange wormlike pokemon with a single white horn entered the arena. He looked around confused before his eyes landed on me.

{Play?} He crawled a few steps toward me, cocking his head. When he noticed my tears he began to feel sad. {Why cry?}

I barely even heard him. I was just thinking how Shine got turned to red light and pulled away into a Pokeball before she’d even gotten to finish saying goodbye. How I’d probably never see her again.

I looked at the little bug, wiping my eyes as Mama came over and nuzzled me. “{I… I didn’t wanna say goodbye…}”

{My child…} Mama nuzzled me gently, looking at the bug. {Can you give her a moment, young Weedle?}

Weedle nodded before crawling back. His emotions were simple, but he understood what Mama meant. The lady on the intercom didn’t wanna wait though…

“Commence.”

Weedle looked up at the intercom and then back at Mama and me. He shifted awkwardly, wondering which voice he should listen to, but he remained still.

Mama gave him a grateful look before looking me in the eyes. {Aurora. I know it hurts. I know it is painful. But we cannot do anything about it, not yet. For now, you need to be strong. I know you can be. Just play, and keep her in your heart. I will be here.}

I nodded, and she gestured with her tails to Weedle. {His horn will poison you. Take care not to touch it, my child.}

She brushed her tail against my face, drying my eyes, before walking back and sitting. I faced Weedle, my heart still shaking, but I stood strong. Like Mama asked. “{I… I can play now.}”

Weedle nodded and gave a happy trill. {Play good!} He took a stance and shot a long string of web at me.

I dodged to the side like before, the sadness in my heart burning away into anger.  _ They don’t care. At all! They just wanna do whatever they want and they don’t give a damn! Shine’s probably gonna die and I couldn’t stop it and so are they and everything’s gonna be awful! _

Weedle stopped shooting webbing before honing toxic energy to his horn and firing pins at me. I dodged to the other side, into the web. It was a bit stickier than I expected, but it stopped sticking to my feet pretty quick as it began to crackle and burn.

I turned to Weedle, the web blackening to ash as it was engulfed by the blaze. An acrid smell filled the air and a thick black smoke began to rise. The heat didn’t stop the tears rolling down my face. I made a quick panel of ice from my hands, stopping the needles before they could hit me. I then ran over, grabbing him and throwing him like I had with Shine.  _ I don’t wanna hurt him, but they’re gonna kill us all if I don’t fight! _

Weedle wasn’t as talkative as Shine, but he looked eager to get back into it.  _ I wonder how often he gets to be outside of his pokeball? _

Weedle made his way over to me clumsily, focusing skittish bug energy to his face before creating fangs like a bug bite. I ran right towards him, skidding to the side as he tried to bite me and throwing him against the wall again. Not hard enough to really hurt, but there was a small thud like before.

He got up once again and shook his head. {Fun?} He asked.  _ He’s asking if I feel better now… _

I hesitated.  _ I definitely don’t feel better… but I don’t wanna lie to him. Maybe… _

“{Happy to meet you. Your name?}” I said, slowly.  _ It’s not how I’d say that usually, but maybe it’ll help him? _

{Weedle. Name?} He asked me curiously.

“{Aurora.}” I glanced at the burning web from before. My breath hitched as I imagined him there for a moment, his corpse blackening like the web and smoke rising around him, before shaking my head quickly to get the thought out of my head. “{Need keep playing. You want other name?}”

{Other… name?} His emotions were filled with the same confusion Shine had. They had never thought about it. Humans hadn’t given them a world where they were  _ allowed _ to think about it. To be them.  _ To be more than just a tool. _

I glanced fearfully at the room looming above us.  _ They don’t care about any of this… but I don’t think he knows to play and talk at the same time. _ My eyes darted about, looking for something,  _ anything _ , that’d give us more time. And then I had a thought.

I ran up to Weedle, grabbing him and hugging him close (making sure to keep the horn away from me) before running into the middle of the burning web. At the same time, I made my body cold so he wouldn’t get too hot, and kept him close so the flames wouldn’t get him.

He squirmed for a moment before realizing he wasn’t being hurt and looking up at me with his big eyes. “{They don’t want us talk. Your name… doesn’t need be Weedle, like other Weedle. Want name be Spiri?}” I spoke quietly the whole time, the smoke hiding us from view.

I didn’t have time to come up with much, and my brain was still reeling from what had happened with Shine. But I didn’t wanna come up with a name like Spike or Web or something super simple. It’d be just as bad as the humans not letting him have a name to give him a simple name. Spiri was the best I had at that time.

He gave it as much thought as he could before he nodded gleefully. {Spiri! Happy!}

I hugged him closer, tears streaming down my face again. “{Play dead. Me don’t want hurt you. Want things to be okay. Please?}”

{Okay, Aurora friend,} Spiri said before getting comfy, closing his eyes and going fake limp. I hopped out of the burning web, which had burned down to nothing but ashes at this point. I looked at Mama with fear in my eyes, my ears tilting back and my tails bristling.

“{I-it can’t take him if it doesn’t touch him, right…?}”

She nodded. {Indeed.}

I turned to the room, holding up Spiri for a second. “{He’s knocked out! It’s okay!}” And before the human holding the ball could move, I turned my back to him so the Pokeball couldn’t hit him with the red beam and suck him back up.

The grunt tried recalling Spiri from a few more angles, but I got in the way each time. He clicked his teeth frustrated before he stopped and pressed a finger to his ear, as though he was listening to someone.

“Understood,” He said, before stopping and staring down at me. A few seconds passed.

{What happen?} Spiri said softly, just loud enough for me to hear.

“{I… don’t know…}” It was the truth, but this time? There wasn’t any conflict in my instincts. They were both telling me something  _ horrible _ was coming.

That’s when I heard it. Clacking.

It was rhythmic and loud, piercing the silence of the very large arena. To anyone else they sounded like noisier footsteps, but every time I heard them I could feel my heart sink. Every step this person took my body began to tense. Whoever was coming was dangerous just like Sneasel… but focused. Plotting. Calculated in their cruelty.  _ Human. _

Finally I could see the mysterious person with the loud shoes. She was the same woman Rhodo showed me on the phone. She had short, silver hair and a lean body. She wore a silky looking black dress with golden trim and flower patterns all over it. Over it she wore a white coat with the yellow G symbol on the back. There was something off about her eyes though… they were golden, but the insides… they were twisted and cold. As though they were endless voids leading to somewhere any light was snuffed out.

She made her way over to the grunt who straightened at the sight of her. She did not make a single misstep, even in her weird heel shoes. All the other humans in white coats froze when they saw her. She stopped by the grunt before looking down at me.

She took out a pokeball from her coat pocket before releasing the tall pokemon with the black dress and white bows. Upon looking at me his eyes cringed as though he were staring at filth.

“Gothitelle, remove Weedle from #001’s arms,” She commanded. Gothitelle nodded before raising his hand and I could feel my body begin to move on its own as I was engulfed in a pink glow. I felt as my arms were being torn away from Spiri’s form.

_ No! _

I tightened my grip, but no one could tell. My muscles tensed, straining against a force that had no physical aspect. The most it did in response was slow for a brief moment before Spiri was ripped from my arms.

Spiri tried wiggling his way out of the invincible grip, but all he could do was shake ever so slightly and shout. {Help!} 

“The pokeball,” the woman asked, the grunt delicately placing it in her hands.

“{Spiri!}” I cried, jumping after him as he began floating out of the arena. I opened my arms to hug him again. He looked straight into my eyes, the curiosity and glee from his face gone. Replaced with fear and confusion.

Time slowed down again. I hadn’t jumped far enough, but I was close to a wall. I knew if I couldn’t save him, something  _ awful _ was going to happen.

I twisted around, planting my feet against the wall before launching myself to the opposite one. Gothitelle’s eyes followed my movements easily, but the humans couldn’t track me.

As the wall rushed closer, I turned so I could propel myself off of it, upwards towards Spiri. There was a small glimmer of hope in his heart.

Until a wall of force shimmered into existence, and I crashed right into it.

{Auro-} Was all he could manage before the red light engulfed him. I didn’t even have the time to try again, falling through the air as it streamed back into the pokeball. With Spiri. I crashed to the ground. Mama ran over with concern as I glared up at them with horror and fury.

“Thank you, Gothitelle,” She nodded to him before placing Spiri’s pokeball in the grunt’s hand. My heart sank before she even opened her mouth again. “Feed Weedle to Cyrus’ Honchkrow. My tolerance’s range does not encompass disobedient worms.”

My heart  _ shattered _ . A white noise filled my ears, the thought of Spiri being fed to some Pokemon after being taken away. His innocent voice, demeanor, the last thing he knew before he was eaten alive was me splatting against a wall  _ I _ couldn’t break.

_ I’d _ needed the time.  _ I’d _ tried to talk with him. And  _ he _ was being killed for it.

Tears streaming down my face, I screamed. Twin roars of emotion erupted around me as the world went white, then faded slowly to black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My mind was in a haze. Not unlike when I’d first woken up two weeks ago, but my memory was more shattered than foggy. Brief scenes passed through my mind; hugging Spiri, both him and Shine being taken by a Pokeball, the evil lady calling for him to be eaten, both of them confused at the end, how I’d never see either of them again, being taken by the Sneasel and tall human, the person who’d died in the process as their bones split apart in horrible cracks that ripped open their limbs to mimic what Mama had told me was a Sigilyph.

“-rora,” Said a hazy voice.

{M- -hild!} Said another one.

The memories suddenly shot together, forming one cohesive picture again.

“{ _ Spiri!! _ }” I screamed as I shot upright, my breathing frantic as I looked around. There was no glass around. No grunts. Just the berry plants in pots, some cots, Mama and Rhodo.

{My child!} Mama curled around me protectively, keeping me close. {You’re awake…}

“You’re safe now, Aurora,” Rhodo said gently. On the nightstand by my cot were more of those potion bottles and an empty yellow diamond capsule. “How do you feel?”

My condition wasn’t even registering. Only one thing was on my mind. “{Spiri! Is Spiri okay? Where is he?}”

Rhodo’s heart told me everything I needed to know before his words ever could. “I… I’m… I’m so sorry. Spiri is… gone.”

Tears welled up in my eyes again before I held close to Mama,  _ wailing _ . She just kept me close, saying nothing. She just made sure to keep me enveloped in her tails, her warmth barely registering anymore. Even the collar tingling didn’t register.

I couldn’t stop thinking about how the last time I’d seen him, despite my best efforts, he was terrified. How I couldn’t do  _ anything _ to save him. How all he wanted was to help me feel better. To play.

_ I needed time… and that time came in exchange of his life... _

“Jean and I tried to talk Spinel down… we really tried, but… I’m sorry. I failed…” Rhodo looked down and squeezed his hands, an old rage welling up inside him. It was the most emotion I had ever felt from him. Self-loathing and anger.

At that moment, everything else went quiet. Rhodo and Mama were still there. Rhodo was saying things, Mama was whispering something in an attempt to help soothe me, but I wasn’t focused on them. I could feel two sides of myself arguing with each other.

- _ can’t just move on! _

_ The point isn’t to move on! If anything that’s the  _ **_last_ ** _ thing we should do! _

_ So, what? We keep crying about Spiri forever? That’s… _

**_Definitely_ ** _ not what we should do! But Spiri being gone doesn’t have to just make us sad. It can make us  _ **_mad_ ** _. Like Mama has in her heart. That fire in her heart’s because of what humans have done. She’s sad right now too. But she’s probably been sad before. Stuff like  _ **_this_ ** _ has probably happened before to her already, loads of times. And she doesn’t forget about what happened, does she? _

_...no, she doesn’t. She remembers it. And that helps keep her going. _

_ Exactly. We do that. We keep Spiri, Razin and Urie, Paul and Hydreigon,  _ **_everyone_ ** _ who dies here? We keep them all in our heart. Like how Owain and Sue showed everyone! They kept going and didn’t back down until they had to to not die. We don’t just sit back and let the humans do whatever they want. We  _ **_fight_ ** _. We keep going. We  _ **_don’t_ ** _ let them beat us.  _ **_Any_ ** _ of us. We’re gonna get out with Mama, Leanne and Yvonne, Hazel and Vivian, everyone we can. _

_ But… but people are gonna die! _

_ Yeah… they will. But what are we gonna do about that? They killed Spiri because he didn’t listen to what… Spinel, Rhodo said her name was? Because he didn’t listen to her immediately. Which is stupid! He just wanted to be nice! _

_ Leanne would call her a bitch, wouldn’t she? _

_ Yup. _

_ So if we try and save everyone now… _

_ We’ll all die. And then we can’t live for anyone. We gotta try and help as many people as we can, get out, and then we get stronger. We make more friends. We break this world humans have made, that let all this happen. With the help of Pokemon friends, and others like us. And we make sure the humans  _ **_hurt_ ** _ for what they’ve done. _

_ What about Rhodo? And Jean? They don’t feel bad. _

_ No… no they don’t. _

_ We shouldn’t hurt them. They’ve been hurt by humans too. Even Mama doesn’t hate them as much! Some humans are nice. _

_ But not all of them! _

**_Definitely_ ** _ not all of them. But we can feel the good and bad people! Spinel, the evil lady? She felt…  _ **_eugh._ ** _ So wrong. Like she eats babies. _

_ She probably does, really. _

_ I know right? Anyway, she and Rhodo feel lots different. Jean feels a lot closer to Rhodo than Spinel. And that Sneasel from before… they look like they’re more Spinel than Rhodo. We just gotta pay attention to who’s who. We can tell who’s nice and who’s naughty. So we beat up the bad guys and hug the good guys! _

_ That… makes sense. _

_ I  _ **_won’t_ ** _ let them win. We’ll beat them.  _ **_Together._ **

Something in my soul resonated with that. Unending, blazing hate wasn’t the answer. But neither was boundless, overflowing compassion. The kind people would be hurt by the former, and the latter would let… stuff like  _ this _ happen. And neither was an option.

I had to make sure the nice people were safe and loved, and felt that way. And I had to make sure those who’d hurt them would  _ pay. _

As my thoughts merged to form one, cohesive plan of action, the world around me began to register again. Mama and Rhodo were both looking at me, waiting patiently. {I sense something within you has shifted, my child.}

I nodded, still crying but wiping my eyes as my ears tilted back. My heart still felt like it was the thing that’d been eaten, but the sadness was fueling something else now. “{I’m not gonna let the bad guys win. We’re all gonna get out together! An’ beat them all up!}” I put a hand on my heart. “{And Spiri is gonna live here, just like Razin, Urie, Paul and Hydreigon.}”

Pride and affection blazed from Mama as she curled around me. {Absolutely, Aurora. The humans shall not break us.}

Rhodo smiled at that. He felt… nostalgic now, as though a small flame of fervor had been lit within him, but still somber. “The heart, huh… yes, keep them all there. I’m sure they’re all grateful that you will be thinking of them. I’ll support you all as best I can.”

“{I will,}” I stated, fire in my heart blazing against the torrential downpour around it, “{And things are gonna be okay!}”

Rhodo suddenly perked up at that. “You called the sunkern in the arena Shine, right? I want you to know that she’s safe.”

My eyes widened at that.  _ She’s okay? She’s not dead like Spiri? She’s alive! We can help her too! _

“Unfortunately…” He continued. “Jean and I can’t access her at the moment. I don’t think they’ll do anything bad to her since she didn’t disobey, but…” Rhodo caught himself before he finished his sentence.  _ There’s something he knows, but why won’t he tell me? _

It was like the words had tried to dampen the flame with a splash of water. All it did was sizzle and burn like before. “{She’s strong! She’ll be okay! But…}” I looked at him oddly. “{Why don’t you wanna say something?}” __

Rhodo frowned. He didn’t feel like he was confused as to what I said, more about how to respond. “Pokemon raised in environments like this don’t always turn out… completely alright. I dunno what Spinel and the others have in store for her and I don’t even wanna guess...”

Mama felt like she wanted to say something, but she glanced at me to give me space if I wanted to say something. Which I did. “{If we can make it outta here,}” I said defiantly, putting a hand on my chest and moving closer to Mama, “{And if everyone else can too? Then she can make it outta here okay too. She’s strong!}”

Rhodo smiled at me, another nostalgic warm feeling welled up in his chest. There was still self-loathing, but he felt a little more at ease. “Your optimism is contagious… you believe in Shine, so I will too.” He closed his eyes, the nostalgia growing even more mixed with seriousness. “Spinel is going to have you fight more pokemon around Shine’s age under the pretense you are all ‘playing’. She saw your powers and wants to see a whole lot more, but I suppose that was inevitable. These pokemon don’t have a lot of freetime outside of their pokeballs besides training and none of them have names so… I think they’d all really appreciate what you did for Shine and Spiri.”

That fire of hate burned ever so slightly brighter in me, but I nodded. “{I’ll help them too! I’ll try and give them names if they want them, and I’ll make sure everyone’s okay!}”

Mama nuzzled me gently. {Your heart is large to encompass them all, my child. I am proud to call you my daughter.}

Just then, I remembered something. “{Mama, Rhodo… what happened? I remember screaming when they took Spiri, but… I dunno what happened after that.}”

A  _ tiny _ smile crossed Mama’s face. {You exploded at them, my child.}

I blinked.

“It was… intense. Your body was engulfed in fire and ice. Never quite seen anythin’ like it before,” Rhodo added on, rubbing his chin.

I looked at Mama curiously. “{Pokemon don’t do that?}”

Her eyes closed as she shook her head slowly. {There is a technique used by some Pokemon that allows them to explode, and it is not unlike what you did. However, it is an expulsion of raw energy. Not fire and ice, as happened with you. Nor is it involuntary.} After I looked confused, she elaborated. {It means you did not perform any technique to explode yourself, unless I am mistaken?}

“{No,}” I said slowly, shaking my head, “{I was just so angry and sad and I just… screamed. I didn’t know any of that happened.}”  _ And I wasn’t trying to burn Spiri’s web, or make ice after Shine was taken… And I’ll get shocked sometimes when something makes me really upset... _

“I’ve never seen fire and ice types like you before, but… it’s not unheard of pokemon to overwhelm themselves with their own power and just  _ explode _ . There's a lot to it, sometimes it’s due to their ability, a move, release of excess energy or in your case… it looks like raw emotion,” Rhodo finished. “There are ways to manage the bursts so you don’t do them accidentally, at least.”

Mama chuckled. {Yes, there are ways to better control your energy, my child. I would be more than happy to teach you. In a shocking turn of events, humans are quite inept at understanding it.}

Even though my heart still  _ ached _ for Spiri, and there were two fires burning in me? I still managed to chuckle. “{Okay Mama,}” I said softly, hugging her.

Rhodo checked the time before turning back to us. “I could see from the cameras that everyone was worried about you, so let’s make sure you’re alright now,” He said as he began to finish the check-up. It didn’t take too much longer before I was done and he could call Jean. “I’m sorry about Spiri, but Jean and I will ask about Shine again. Until then, I tried something new for everyone to eat. Banana nut muffins.”

He gave me a whole armful of them, and me and Mama were ready to go when Jean came in. She breathed a huge sigh of relief at seeing me up and about. I was still a  _ little _ tired, which makes sense since I apparently  _ exploded _ . But feeling how her and Indra were so worried about me, then happy when they saw I was okay…

When we got to the door back to everyone else, I looked at my armful of muffins.  _ I can’t move them, but… _ I bonked her leg with my head. She looked down at me confused. “Aurora?”

“{You and Indra should have muffins!}”

Her eyes widened as Mama looked at me curiously. “No, I…” she started, hesitating. “I can go to Rhodo anytime, you shouldn’t…”

I shook my head. “{You’re a nice human. The bad humans are hurting you too. We’re gonna get through this, and Rhodo’s muffins help!}”

“You’re sure…?” When I nodded, she went to take one, stopped halfway, and then shook her head. “I’ll go ask Rhodo for some. I can’t take yours. You all get so few as is…”

My ears tilted, worried. “{But… you haven’t had any yet, right?}”

She paused. “No… not yet, but-”

“{Then why don’t you want one…?}”

She felt thoughtful before she responded. “I  _ do _ want one. But those muffins are for you and the others. You all have to go through  _ so much _ . It’s not right for me to take them from you. Yes, I’m… not in the greatest place. But I have less hell to go through than you. I can ask Rhodo. You’re very kind, but please. Those muffins should be for all of you.”

Mama smiled sadly at me. {You are kind, my child, but she is in a position we are not. We must make use of what we have.}

I nodded slowly, nuzzling closer to Mama as Jean gave a Rhodo smile. “Thank you, really. But you  _ need _ to take care of each other. I’ll be okay.”

_ Is it bad I tried to give her some muffins…? _

As the door slid open, Leanne looked over before her eyes widened. “She’s okay! And back!”

She and Yvonne quickly ran over as we walked in hugging us close. Hazel and Vivian were close to the door as well while Eclipse, Yuna and Koko ran over. “What happened? Are you alright?”

I nodded, putting the muffins on the bed before I hopped on with Mama. I opened my mouth, then my mind went back to Spiri. How he’d been ripped from my arms, and I was powerless to do anything about it. “{No…}”

Her face fell, but I clenched my fists. “{But it’s gonna be okay! We’re gonna beat them all an’ make it outta here together!}”

All of them looked surprised by my sudden declaration. Mama smiled. {My child is not one to simply let the humans beat her. She is strong. And she has faith in the strength of us all to endure and overcome.}

Hazel felt particularly worried, so I went over and hugged her. “{It’s okay… we’re gonna be okay.}”

She just nodded slowly, fear still in her heart. “Were… were you okay? Fighting? We heard you yelling Shine’s name…”

I shuddered. “I… they wanted to play. I didn’t wanna  _ hurt _ them.” My eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t mind fighting the humans, but Shine and… S-Spiri… I didn’t…”

Leanne came over to wipe my eyes gently, Eclipse feeling clearly at a loss for what to say.

{You really didn’t want to fight either of them, did you?}

I looked over to see a large, flower headed plant. He had lots of small, yellow petals on his head, leaf hands, a big teardrop green body and long feet. Next to him was a person like me, even though he looked pretty human. He had fluffy blonde hair that spiked to look like petals, baggy dark green pants, tough brown boots, a lighter green long sleeved shirt and worn gloves.

I shook my head slowly. “{No… all they wanted was to play.}” The words died in my throat before something pushed them forwards. “{If I’d tried to burn them… they would’ve been really hurt. I-I didn’t…}”

{Easy,} he said, putting a leaf on my head. {I’m not blaming you. You just wanted to help them, right?}

I nodded, and he smiled a little more brightly. {That’s all I wanted to know.} Then he looked up at the person with him, who felt… sad. Like his heart was breaking. I quickly held up muffins to them both.

“{H-here! These’ll help!}”

They looked at the muffins, then me, gently taking them as the person nodded. “We already know your name, so… you should know ours. I’m Garland.” He gestured to the Pokemon with him. “He’s Dijon. Thanks for the muffins.”

Even though he spoke curtly, I could tell it was mostly because he was hurting. He didn’t know what to say.  _ He doesn’t wanna make it worse. _ “{I hope you like them!}”

As they walked away, Mama sighed. {That poor Sunflora…} At seeing my face, she elaborated. {Sunflora is what Shine will evolve into. They… do not do well without sunlight for extended periods of time.}

I shuddered.  _ I might not even really know what the sun looks like, but at least I don’t wither away without it like him… I wonder if Shine’s gonna be okay without sun… _

We slowly began eating our muffins, Hazel and Vivian staying closer to me and Mama. Then I noticed Mabel, Haley, Benny and Bors coming over. I waved a little, even though they all felt sad.

“Hey Aurora,” Mabel said gently with their heart in the floor, “How’re you feeling? Nothing broken…?”

I thought a moment before putting my hand over my heart.  _ It feels like it broke… _ Mabel got it though, and just hugged me gently. “I’m so sorry… Is it alright if I say something about… all of that?”

I nodded, and they ruffled my hair with a sad smile. “A lot of weedle are overlooked by lots of people. If nothing else… I’m sure he was glad to have you as a friend.”

My eyes welled up. “{H-he’s still my friend…}” I put a hand on my heart again. “{A-and he’s gonna live here now.}”

They nodded as Leanne started rubbing my back gently. “And it’s a wonderful place for him.”

As much as it hurt. As much as I wanted to curl into a ball, crying and never seeing any of the evil humans ever again? I couldn’t. Not right now. We all needed to get through this. And I had to do my part to help.

I grabbed some muffins and held them to everyone. Mabel smiled sadly. “Thank you,” they whispered before handing the muffins to Haley, Benny and Bors. When they took a bite, they relaxed a ton and smiled more warmly at Benny. “Muffins with nuts in them. Brings back memories, huh?”

Benny nodded and started signing as I nibbled on mine.  _ I like the parts that don’t have nuts in them. But it’s still lots better than gruel…  _ My heart sank even more.  _ Is it bad that I don’t wanna eat something that isn’t gruel? _

Someone’s hand brushed gently on my arm. I turned quickly to see that Hazel had sat up and was looking at me concerned. “Do… you want to sit with us?”

Even though we were only a few feet apart, I got what she meant. I scooched closer to her, Mama getting up to walk over before encircling us with her tails. Hazel held my hand gently. “I… don’t want to hurt people.” One of my ears tilted. “I don’t want to do  _ any _ of… what this place is. Mommy and Daddy… they taught me better than that. But…” She looked at me and Mama. “You wanna fight them, don’t you?”

I nodded. “{They’re evil. And they’re hurting  _ loads _ of people. I can’t just stand by and let all that happen. I gotta do something!}”

“{Even if it hurts you…?}”

“{Yeah.}” I gave a small smile. “{I can take it. And if I get hurt, then other people aren’t getting hurt.}” I hugged her. “{I don’t  _ wanna _ get hurt, but I can fight. I can  _ do _ something. So I should. Right?}”

Mama felt concerned, but also pride as Hazel hugged me back. “I… don’t think I’ll ever be able to fight with you. But I can try and help you. Like family does, right?”

Vivian nuzzled between us. {Yeah. Family helps family.}

A shadow came over us as Yvonne’s wings spread around, Leanne hugging us all while Mama kept her tails around us. “Right. Family helps family. And they can’t take that away from us.” She gave me a sad smile. “But Aurora, don’t put yourself in too much danger, alright? You don’t have to do this alone. We’re gonna do this together, right?”

I nodded, a part of me feeling… happy.  _ Right… Spiri wouldn’t want me to be sad. He didn’t and he doesn’t. I gotta be happy for him and everyone else, too… And we can all be a big, happy family. _

We stayed like that for quite a while. Afterwards we didn’t say too much, and were simply… there for each other. Like family is. Eventually though I had to go to sleep, so Leanne made sure we got there okay while Hazel and Vivian wished us good night. Once we’d reached our bed and I was safely in Mama’s tails though…

“{Mama?}”

She looked in at me. {Yes, my child?}

My eyes started watering again, and the words died in my throat once more. She waited patiently until I said something. “{Is… i-is it my fault? If I’d been stronger… If I was used to Pokeballs, S-Spiri wouldn’t have-}”

{No.} I looked at Mama as she brushed away the tears with a tail gently. {It is not your fault in the slightest, my child. None of us ever truly get used to Pokeballs. Your reaction was entirely natural. You did  _ not _ harm Spiri in any way. You did everything you could to help. The humans are to blame for this. Not you. Never you.}

I nodded slowly, hugging close to her. “{W-what about the muffins from earlier? I didn’t like them as much as the others, is that-}”

She shook her head again. {Simply having a preference is not bad at all, Aurora. Rhodo is giving us as many muffins of as many different kinds as he is able, simply due to how many preferences everyone here has. Even Ron and Rush have foods they would eat before other ones.}

“{R-really…?}”

{Really.} She nuzzled me gently. {You are not to blame for  _ anything _ that happens here, my child. Would you blame Leanne and Yvonne for what happened to their family?} I shook my head quickly, almost making myself dizzy. {Then why do you blame yourself for what happened to yours?}

I stopped.  _ But- no, that’s mean… but what about- no, that’s mean too… _ I slowly looked back at Mama. “{But I still feel bad about it…}”

{And that is perfectly fine. We cannot control our hearts. But I will always be right here to help calm yours.}

Even after that though, my heart still  _ ached _ . I’d close my eyes and cuddle against Mama, but every time I got a bit more tired Shine being turned to mist in my arms and Spiri being ripped away shot through with an accompanying jolt from the collar.

After quite some time, when the lights had turned off already, me and Mama both looked over at the sound of footsteps. Guinevere and Chestnut were coming over.

“Having trouble sleeping?”

I nodded, and Guinevere gave a sad smile. A  _ very _ sad smile, if her feelings were anything to go by. “I think I can help, if you like…? And Ivane allows it, of course.”

Mama nodded slowly. She wasn’t quick to trust people, not at all, but she could tell they were kind too, I think. She unfurled her tails slightly and Chestnut curled with us both, smiling. {Let me know if I’m intruding, alright?}

We both nodded, and while I laid with Mama and Chestnut? Guinevere began rubbing my back slowly as she started to sing. The same song she’d sung before when I had trouble sleeping.

_ Come my child, _

_ Stay with me. _

_ I’ll protect you, and your dreams... _

**_~~Iron Island, Year 8520, Damidar, Solaci 27th~~_ **

Guinevere’s song was accurate, since I didn’t have any nightmares like the other night. My heart still hurt lots in the morning, trying to process everything that’d happened yesterday.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to do so.

After me and Mama had eaten with the others, Jean and Indra came by because we were supposed to fight again. Something about how we weren’t injured last time and didn’t need a recovery day? Whatever it meant, Jean didn’t seem happy about it at  _ all _ .

This time when me and Mama went into the arena thingy, waiting for us was a blue Pokemon. They had a flat tail, two feet, no arms, pink spiny things on their cheeks and three darker blue curves on their body. 

He tilted his head at me and gave a toothless smile. {Who’re you guys?}

I stopped for a moment, my mind flashing back to Spiri from yesterday, but I couldn’t let that happen again. “{I’m Aurora.}” I moved closer to Mama. “{And this is my Mama.}”

He kept tilting his head back and forth with the same smile. He didn’t really have much going on besides good vibes. {Aurora and Mama… So many names, I’ll try to remember. I’m Wooper… I think. I forget.}

I blinked.  _ Did he get his head messed with like me? _ “{I… I mean I  _ think _ you’re a Wooper? Mama?}” She nodded as I continued. “{Do you want another name?}”

Wooper’s face and emotions remained the same. {Another name… that sounds hard to remember.}

_ Something simple… _ “{What about Woo? That’s simple, right?}”

This time he felt a bit happier. {That’s even easier than my old name! Whatever that was…}

“Commence,” Said  _ Spinel _ over the intercom. Woo looked around confused by the sudden voice.

The grunt who had taken Spiri’s pokeball yesterday spoke up when he saw Woo not doing anything. “Wooper, attack!”

Woo shirked at the grunt’s command, his calm heart spiking with fear. {I thought we were playing...? Play… attack?}

My eyes narrowed, this time a chill running through me. It coalesced in my hand, the air freezing into a snowball before I chucked it right at the grunt. There was glass in the way, so it couldn’t actually hit him, instead slamming into the glass and sticking as a splatter of snow over his face.  _ But maybe not seeing him will help Woo feel better? _

Mama smiled at him. {You are indeed playing, young one. Simply do what you feel is right.}

Woo turned back to us and he quickly returned back to his usual state. {Alrighty… let’s play attack!} Woo took a deep breath before he spat a long stream of water towards me.

I dodged it like I had with the other moves, running around while Mama called out to me. {Be wary, my child. We do not do well with water.}

_ Why not? _ That was a thought for later though, as I went over to grab him like before. When I did though there was a little tingle in my hands, almost like the collar. My hands slipped off him like he was covered in water. I quickly jumped back and shook my hands to get the slimy stuff off, tilting my head in confusion.

Woo inhaled again, this time lobbing a thick glob of mud towards me, ready to splatter all over the field. Time seemed to slow down again as I darted to the side, rolling well out of the way of the splash range. I didn’t know what compelled me to roll. It just felt right.

{Wooper have a thin film over them that makes them hazardous to touch, my child.} I nodded at Mama, making a little more snow and using that to get the rest of it off my hands. After doing that though, I looked at them again.  _ So I can’t touch him really… What then? _

Woo began running towards me, shooting water guns back to back in my direction. I kept dodging, since while the water would splash in places? It didn’t go far, and he wasn’t super fast or anything. My mind went back to the snowball I’d thrown.

I ran around, making another two in my hands.  _ This shouldn’t hurt, right? _ As he turned to face me I chucked them both at him, one splatting against his body. That one he didn’t seem that bothered by. The other one went right into his open mouth, and I felt my heart recoil. “{Are you okay?!}”

He chomped down on it and swallowed the snowball. {Refreshing, thanks. I can do ice too,} Woo said as his tail became coated in ice. He jumped into the air and started spinning faster way faster than I expected.

_ Well, snow didn’t do anything, so what about the fire Mama helped teach me? _ I made a quick angled sheet of ice, diverting him so he slammed his tail against the ground. A small burst of ice encircled him, the air chilling around the sudden frost. I made fireballs in my hands like the snow from before, and threw those at him.

The ice hissed as it melted, making more water around him. The fire that hit him seemed like it made him less shiny, but he didn’t recoil as much as Shine or Spiri had. Internally, I breathed a sigh of relief.  _ So I can’t really hurt him… that’s good. _

While I was happy he was okay, he turned around and shot a mud shot right into my stomach. It sent me  _ reeling _ , falling and skidding back on my butt a bit while my stomach  _ hurt _ .  _ Okay, so he can hurt me. Ow. _

I touched the mud on my clothes, thinking a moment before I made myself lots colder. The mud quickly froze, falling off in chunks that I then picked up and hucked back at Woo.

It hit Woo directly on the head, but whatever pain he felt he didn’t seem to notice before he fired another water gun at me without missing a beat. I had to leap out of the way again, and this time I started watching what he was doing more carefully.  _ I can’t do much to him, but what he does can do a lot to me. _

I threw fireball after fireball at him, not really trying to  _ hurt _ him or anything. He just had to take a second to make himself shiny again, so I was hoping that I could tire him out with that before I got tired myself. Which… seemed to be working pretty well. The more I threw and the more sizzled off of him, the longer it took him to make himself shiny again. Meanwhile, I was starting to feel a little winded from throwing a bunch of fire, but nothing I couldn’t deal with.

Woo began slowing down. He made himself all slimy again, but he took a bit longer to inhale whatever he was going to shoot at me. While he did that, I threw one more fireball to burn off the slime. He was busy shooting water, so I jumped over it and landed behind him. This time when I grabbed him, he felt… soft. Cool, and a little rubbery.

I gently threw him towards a wall, and he only lightly bumped it before falling on the floor again. He got up onto his feet slowly only to fall back onto his butt, panting. 

{Wow… what a workout… you’re so fast…} Woo panted, exhausted. {I got ya… good though.}

I smiled a little, running up. He still hadn’t made himself slimy again, so I hugged him close. “{You did. You did good, Woo.}”

Woo leaned into me, relaxing, before I could feel my hands go through his body as Woo was engulfed in the red mist. I looked up glaring to see the grunt had recalled him. Right next to him was  _ Spinel  _ and Gothitelle looking down at me with her twisted golden eyes. She had a neutral look on her face with her arms crossed, like she expected the bare minimum of obedience and I just reached it.

My eyes narrowed further, my mind going back to what I’d heard Leanne and Eclipse say loads of times. “{Bitch!}” I didn’t know what it meant, but they were angry when they said it and I was angry at her.  _ And it’s an adult word, so it fits since she’s an evil adult. _

Mama’s emotioned spiked for a second before she chuckled. {Usually I would say to not say that word, but… given the human you’re addressing, I can’t deny its accuracy.}

The grunt next to her looked petrified before he slowly turned to Spinel. Gothitelle’s condescending gaze intensified, but awaited Spine’s orders. She didn’t change her facial expression or stance, but for the smallest moment I could see something  _ move  _ within her eyes. Something dangerous. Like a shadow was clawing at me within a golden sea.  _ That means she’s angry… right? Well, I’m angry too! I’m ready to punch you! _

She turned to the grunt. “Send Pichu and Igglybuff out at the same time.”

“O-of course!” The grunt saluted before reaching to his belt, several Pokeballs hanging from it. He took two and held them towards the arena, two arcing beams of light pulsing down to the ground. When they formed, one was a small yellow mouse with a teeny black tail, spiky ears with black on the edges, pink cheeks-  _ Why do so many pokemon have special cheeks? _ -small paws and feet.

The other one was… a ball? They were pink with a little swirl on their forehead, red eyes with big black circles in the middle, three little puffs on their head, and…  _ are those even paws? They’re little nubbin thingies. No special cheeks, though. _

They looked around a moment before they turned to each other in surprise. {Igglybuff!?}

{Pichu! What are you doing here?}

Pichu looked around confused. {They told me I was gonna play fight with someone. Are we playing in here?}

Igglybuff felt just as confused. {Maybe… Why do all those people wanna watch us play? It’s creepy.} She looked around before noticing us and immediately hid behind Pichu. {That pokemon… she looks too big to play with…}

Pichu stood defensively in front of Igglybuff, but he also began backing away when he saw Mama. She just shook her head. {Do not be afraid, little ones. I am Aurora’s mother, Ivane.} She gestured with a tail to me. {And this is my child, Aurora.}

I waved at them, smiling a little. “{You don’t gotta be afraid. My Mama’s super strong and nice!}”

Igglybuff peeked out from behind Pichu. {My Mama is the best singer in the whole wide world! Imma be just like her when I grow up!}

Mama smiled warmly. {I can see it. Keep heart and you will achieve that goal.}

Igglybuff smiled, feeling a little better already. {Before we play I wanna sing a song, I’m so happy!} Igglybuff closed her eyes. {Ahem…}

Igglybuff began singing a soft melody, but the pitch… was a little weird at times. It was a really nice song and listening to it made me feel a little drowsy, but by the time she finished the feeling went away. Pichu had fallen asleep though which seemed to please her, but she looked expectantly and nervously at us.

{I’m not very good yet, but Pichu always falls asleep to my lullabies.} 

“{I think it was pretty!}” I walked over and sat with them. “{I dunno how good at singing I am, but I liked your song. Maybe you could teach me or something?}”

I didn’t know it was possible, but Igglybuff’s eyes got even bigger. {You wanna learn from me?}

I nodded, smiling. “{Yeah! You feel nice, and you sing good and I’d be happy to learn things from you. Maybe we can be friends, if you want…?}”

Igglybuff squealed in delight before she shook Pichu awake. {Pichu look! I’m making new friends!}

Pichu got up slowly before yawning and scratching his face. {I want new friends too!} He turned to me. {I was asleep, but I want a new friend!}

I held my arms open to them both for a hug. “{We can all be friends!}”

{Yay! You should come with us to the playpen! If we’re good during training we get extra time out of our pokeballs  _ and  _ treats! I can show you the sweetest ones!} Pichu sparked as he and Igglybuff jumped into my embrace.

My ears drooped. “{They don’t give us snacks or a playpen or anything.}” I shuddered, my eyes starting to water. “{A-and Spiri…}”

{Spiri?} Igglybuff asked before she was cut off by the grunt.

“Pichu, Igglybuff commence battle!”

They turned to each other with worried looks. Neither of them wanted to ‘play fight’ with me right now. My heart skipped a beat.

_ Not again.  _ **_Not again._ **

I got up quickly, wiping my eyes. “{I-I’ll be okay! Just… let’s do stuff, okay? If we don’t, they’ll…}” I stopped, taking a deep breath before giving them a Rhodo smile. “{And after maybe I can give you new names if you want…?}”

Pichu tilted his head. {I thought only the humans got names…}

Igglybuff puffed out her body. {I don’t wanna fight, I wanna sing! You don’t wanna play fight either right?} She asked me.

I shook my head slowly. “{No… no, I really don’t, but if we don’t you’ll…}” My eyes welled with tears. “{You’ll be like Spiri…}”

My heart froze and I closed my eyes, feeling things get colder around me. I could feel both their hearts pumping against mine.  _ Don’t explode don’t explode I don’t wanna hurt them don’t explode! _

The air started to crackle as ice formed in large chunks, falling and crashing against the ground. I opened my eyes again. “{Please! I don’t want you to die too!}” I begged.

Igglybuff’s eyes began to water, but ice began to crackle around Pichu causing him to shock me by surprise. It was a quick zap, but it still stung. 

{Oh sorry!} Pichu apologized quickly. He turned to Igglybuff, who looked ready to burst at any moment, but not with an attack. Pichu’s emotions went racing, but when glanced up at the grunt and Spinel he made his decision. {Sorry everyone!}

Pichu’s body crackled with electricity before he began shocking us all. Igglybuff bounced into the air in surprise, floating. She rubbed her eyes and stared down at me.

{Fine. Weirdos forcing us to play fight…} Igglybuff’s eyes glowed white before she shot the same sort of electricity as Pichu right at me.

I could feel Mama’s heart  _ ached _ , but she watched me as I leapt backwards away from the bolts. They still got several glancing hits on me though, since they were way faster than Woo’s attacks. But I was more used to how these attacks felt, because of the collar.

{Igglybuff is capable of copying what Pichu or you do, my child. And Pichu cannot keep up electric attacks for long without damaging himself.} I shuddered, glancing up at Spinel. The same monster in her eyes was slinking back into the depths.  _ So she’s probably not gonna treat them like Spiri… _

I wiped my eyes again, taking a deep breath before throwing more fireballs. Not at them though, just at the lightning so it wouldn’t hit me.  _ The way Mama made it sound, if Pichu tires himself out and Igglybuff doesn’t have attacks to copy, then we won’t have to fight! And… _

“{Do you want names? Humans are stupid, they don’t think we should have names but we do! What do you want yours to be?}” I yelled over the crackling and bursts of energy sending out small shockwaves.

{Cookie!} Pichu shouted as he began running forward with a tail made of iron. {Because I love cookies!}

I smiled a little, covering my hands in ice to block it. I tried to grab him, but he was faster than everyone else and scurried away. “{Nice to meet you Cookie! What about you?}” I said curiously towards Igglybuff.

{I like the name Maya!} She bounced around a lot faster than I expected to with relative ease. She began creating a wicked ball of energy, contrasting her cutesy appearance before throwing it at me.

I ran the opposite direction of Cookie, throwing a fireball at the pulsing orb. It exploded into a cloud of dark mist, embers and purple lightning crackling in the cloud. Even though I couldn’t see where he or Maya were, I could hear Cookie’s footsteps.  _ I dunno where she is though… did it send her back? _

I ran into the middle of the cloud, putting my hand against the floor and trying to make a fireball right against it.  _ They were making really bright things earlier, maybe this can make a bright thing? _

The fireball sputtered, growing hotter by the second. It forced my hand up after a few moments, a flash of orange and red cascading upwards. It scattered the mist, and both Cookie and Maya were covering their eyes a little. I quickly ran over and grabbed Cookie, throwing him at a wall.

Cookie flew easily, but unlike everyone else he spun in midair, landed on the wall and jumped right off back to me. His fist was coated with white energy. Maya floated back a bit as her fist became coated in white energy too, ready to charge in.

When I went to leap away, my whole body jolted with electricity. Not from the collar though, from everywhere.  _ Okay, that didn’t work! _ I only just caught myself from falling on my face, quickly spinning around and making a dome of ice between me and them.

The punches collided with the ice forcing them both to back off. Meanwhile, my mind was racing.  _ Cookie’s bolts from before were going everywhere, and when Mama was being shocked I got shocked too by hugging her. Maybe… _

I laid on the ground a moment, the jolts in my limbs fading a little as teeny sparks lanced into the floor before disappearing. They didn’t go away totally, but it was better than before. And the rest of it…  _ I can manage. _

I took another deep breath, sending out the same burst of cold and snow I had with Shine. And just like before, I wasn’t trying to hit them. Just blow them away a little.

“Igglybuff use Rollout, Pichu use Helping Hand,” Spinel’s voice pierced through the chamber. Neither of them dared to look back.

{Sorry about this, Aurora…} Maya apologized as she began spinning in midair, surrounding herself in brown energy. Cookie backed up and started doing a little dance for her, sparking occasionally before finishing with a little pose. When he finished she started spinning even  _ faster. _

{Rollout uses rock energy, my child. We are… not good at taking such attacks.}  _ Okay so definitely don’t get hit by this one. I can do that, right? _

Maya let herself loose as she began flying through the air faster than even Cookie was beforehand.  _ This better work! _ I put both my hands on the floor this time, making a fireball between them both. Orange light began shining through my fingers as the heat built underneath. Tiny embers sputtered out from beneath my hands.

When Maya was about to hit me, I let go. A huge burst of fire launched her way off course, bouncing around the walls and spinning the whole way. Cookie watched in amazement, but quickly remembered he had to help too before he sent another thundershock at me.

Making sure to avoid Maya’s very dangerous bouncing, I whirled around and sent a gust of cold and snow at Cookie while rolling to the side with my hands outstretched. He stood strong against it for a moment before it bowled him over, a bit of frost forming around the edges of his paws, feet and ears. From what I could feel, he probably  _ could _ keep going. But he didn’t. He stayed on the ground, resting in the snow.  _ Like how Spiri pretended… _

After that, I watched Maya. She didn’t… really seem to be able to stop herself. But I knew that if I tried to stop her, it’d hurt  _ lots _ . And she was slowing down. So I waited, moving around a little so she didn’t smack into me. Eventually she bounced to a stop on the floor, the rolling propelling her forwards a bit before I grabbed her and set her down gently. Her eyes were spinning as she rolled onto her back. {Mama said people don’t get hit by that much…}

Cookie smiled at me from where he was sitting. {That wasn’t too bad… but I think I could go for a cookie right now.}

Maya hopped back onto her feet and looked up to the grunt hopefully. {Can we play something else now? I wanna teach Aurora how to sing.}

Gothitelle’s eyes glowed a moment before Spinel nodded her head. “Dismiss them both.”

My heart dropped, even though I knew it was coming.  _ They don’t care about us at all. _ I quickly ran over, hugging them both as the grunt grabbed the pokeballs. “{Thank you for being my friends… You’re the best…}” I said, tears starting to fall.

Cookie patted me on the shoulder. He smelled like Rhodo’s muffins. Cookie seemed to understand what was going on better than the others too, which may have saved their lives. {Next time we can share cookies.}

Maya sniffled, leaning into me. She smelled… soothing. Different than a muffin. A little like pecha berries. {I wanted to sing with you-} Was all I got to hear before she turned to red mist along with Cookie. Spinel looked down at me and then towards the grunt.

“Increase Igglybuff’s discipline training. She doesn’t seem to understand her place yet and has taken her luxuries for granted,” Spinel ordered.

All the sadness in my heart turned to  _ fury _ all at once. Flames started billowing out from me as I glared up at her, the tears turning to steam on my face with a roaring blaze engulfing me.  _ I  _ **_hate_ ** _ you. I  _ **_HATE_ ** _ you! _ “{I  _ hate _ you!}”

Spinel simply glared at me, as if I was a bug she had to swat at. “As you can see these pokemon are merely sparring partners, not playmates to make friends with. You fight and they leave; do not blame me for whatever anguish you feel whenever we recall them.”

The flames crackled angrily, roaring in tandem with my rage. “{They’re my  _ friends! _ They’re  _ people! _ And they’re  _ better _ than  _ you _ ever could be!}”

Spinel turned to Gothitelle whose eyes began to glow. She turned back to me once he had finished doing… whatever he was doing. “Friends hmmm…” Spinel frowned. “Do not be confused. They are your sparring opponents to test your capabilities. Assets that have fulfilled their purpose and will resume their training elsewhere in the service of Team Galactic. What we learn from your data could forever change the human race. Don’t waste my time with your incessant meltdowns.”

She pointed down at me, eyes ghastly cold. “Beings with the intelligence of humans and the power of pokemon, yet can understand both. The ideal fusions, the perfect species. These tests will mold you into the ideal being, but…” Spinel closed her eyes before opening them revealing the shadow within her eyes had grown even larger. “Your compliance is not a factor and you are not irreplaceable. Whine all you want and shed your plaintive tears, but in the end the result will be the same. Obey and live; disobey and die.”

“{I won’t  _ let _ it be the same!}” I yelled up at the bitch. “{I don’t  _ care _ what you humans want! I’m not yours!}”

Spinel clicked her teeth. “#001… how unfortunate that you’ve become disillusioned. You  _ are  _ human, modified, but human. You forget your place.”

I clenched my fists. “{You don’t have tails or wings or anything! And your ears are little! And you’re evil! I’m not like you!}”

{Your mind is clouded, human,} Gothitelle spoke up, staring down at us with a detached, condescending tone. {A few new limbs does not make you or the rest of the ilk within that cesspool any less human, just as they do not separate pokemon.}

Spinel shook her head. “Only a singular statement of yours has been correct; we are nothing alike. I am a pioneer towards global advancement.” The darkness within her eyes appeared once again, laughing at me. “You are a means to an end, #001.”

Mama walked over and sat next to me, glaring up at them with me. {Perhaps a few limbs does not mark the line between us, but you are clearly more human than either of us ever have been, petulant infant.} She said, venom in her voice.

“{You’re not a pio-whatever! You’re an evil bitch! And I’m Aurora!}” I yelled up after.

{Repulsive she-beast and her disillusioned human pet,} Gothitelle muttered with immense vitriol before turning to Spinel, his eyes glowing. Spinel raised an eyebrow in interest.  _ I don’t like that look. _

“They’re dismissed. Have Jean take them to Rhodo, but quickly. They don’t need medical attention,” Spinel ordered before walking away with Gothitelle. The grunt saluted them both before he left as well.

The flames around me began to die down as they walked away, Mama smiling at me. {You seem to have not been bothered by their words, my child.}

I shook my head, feeling more tired now but nothing that wouldn’t go away. “{They’rea buncha meanies. They’re just using fancy words, it doesn’t mean they’re not hurting people.}” I growled a little. “{An’ we’re  _ not _ theirs. Nobody’s anyone’s. ‘S not how it works.}”

{You are correct,} she said as the door hissed open to show Jean standing there. {We are all equals. It is primarily the humans who perpetuate the idea that is not so.}

We walked over to Jean, Indra glancing at us as we walked. {I would tread carefully if I were you. Directly aggravating the Dark One is… unwise, in most circumstances.}

I huffed. “{If she didn’t wanna be called evil she shouldn’t be evil.}”

He smiled a little. {Regardless. You already have more than enough to deal with. You needn’t make it harder on yourselves.}

“{I’m not just gonna  _ not _ let them know they’re evil.}” I moved a little closer to Mama. “{Nothing’s gonna get better if we just let them do whatever they want.}”

Indra went quiet at that, while Mama was beaming with pride. Jean glanced down at us as we stopped at Rhodo’s office. “You’re a strong little girl, you know that?”

I smiled a little as the door opened. Rhodo was sitting at his desk with his usual tired eyes preparing… something?

“Ah hello everyone, I saw your bouts; I’m glad everything worked out better this time,” He spoke solemnly, but he felt a tad bit… proud? “It looks like you bonded well with those pokemon. I’m sure they’ll be much happier with their new names.”

I smiled a little. “{They should all get names! Everyone deserves a name.}”

He nodded slowly. “Yes, everyone does. I saw what happened with Iggly- no. Maya, was it? I’ll be sure to ask if I can oversee her ‘discipline’, so she’s alright.”

I crossed my arms. “{All she wanted was to teach me how to sing…}” I growled softly, still fuming over the evil lady.

“Sing, hm? I’m sure there’s an old folk song or two I could teach her after she’s disciplined…” Rhodo hummed a little tune thoughtfully before shaking his head.  _ Does he mean teach Maya something? _

“Ah, I’m getting carried away. Spinel wants you back in the compound sooner than later so I have to make this quick. I’m going to do a blood test on you, it’ll only take a second and then you get muffins. This time they’re chocolate with orange zest.” He hummed triumphantly near the end.  _ He sounds really proud of that. _

I nodded, smiling a bit. When he turned around, he was holding a small, thin glass cylinder with a metal stick at the bottom and a button thingy on top. One of my ears flopped as I looked at it curiously.

“It’s just a needle. We use it to administer vaccines or draw blood so we can make sure everything is okay. It’s how we prevent illnesses before they can even happen. It’ll pinch for a second, but it’s not so bad,” He explained.  _ That sounds like a really good thing. Right? And Rhodo’s nice… anyone who thinks these are stupid has to have no brain at all. _

“{Do I eat it?}”

Rhodo’s face twisted to concern. “Oh gods no, uhhh I just stick it into one of the veins on your arm and we’re good to go. You ready?” I nodded again, as Rhodo began cleaning my arm with some wet pad before sticking the needle in me. It felt like a harder poke, and I could see it filling up with blood. He put a bandaid over it and gave me one of his signature sad smiles.

“And that’s it, easy right?”

I blinked. “{That’s all? That didn’t hurt at all. Woo’s water hurt more.}”

“Some kids get a little scared of the prick and feel a bit sour, but you’ll be just fine. I remember when-” Rhodo froze mid sentence. 

His feelings became muddy and dull before turning to panic. He clutched his throat like he couldn’t breathe, his legs crumpling a little beneath him. Mama leaned forward, just as confused as me while I reached out to touch him.

“{Rhodo?}”

He looked at me with bugged out eyes before he finally began calming down, exhaling deeply. His normal feelings were coming back, but now he just felt uneasy. And scared. He got up quickly, handed me the container of muffins and tried to give me a tiny smile.

He couldn’t even do that.

“Sorry…” He went to the door opening it up for Jean and Indra. “Please…” He didn’t specify, but his feelings gave me an idea. He was scared. Sad. Lonely? Something like that.  _ His heart hurts… why does he want to be alone? The evil lady hurt him too, didn’t she? _

I hopped off the chair and ran over, hugging him tight. He didn’t really respond, but I felt something in his feelings. I couldn’t make it out exactly, but I smiled as best I could. “{Thanks!}”

He gently patted me on the back before nodding towards Jean. She glanced at me and Mama. “Let’s leave Rhodo for now, okay? He needs some time.”

I nodded slowly, feeling that Mama was a bit more urgent as well. I waved, holding the muffin container before we walked out.

As we did, Mama glanced back and nudged me closer with her tails. “{What  _ was _ that, Mama?}”

Her eyes narrowed. {I am… unsure. But it was unmistakably psychic manipulation of some kind, as well as a curse.} I looked confused, but Indra shuddered as Mama continued. {It is not from another Ninetales, however. Our curses carry a distinct signature. As well as how it seemed to enhance the psychic manipulation. Which is when a powerful psychic pokemon uses their abilities to… alter, someone’s mind.}

My mind flashed back to the Gothitelle with the evil lady.  _ Was it him? _ {It seems to prevent him from broaching certain subjects,} Mama continued, {As well as initiate dire consequences if he attempts to do so.}

“{Couldn’t we figure out what it is?}”

{If we were given free reign, my child. As such, considering where we are? I believe pressing would call more ire to us than we can deal with.}

I shuddered, staying close to Mama as Indra nodded. {I don’t know what it is he cannot talk about, but you both are already under a more watchful eye. Pursuing that topic would be unwise, to say the least.}

We walked in silence to the…  _ compound, Rhodo called it? That sounds… mean. But it’s a mean place made by meanies… I don’t like calling it that, though. _ To the room where the others were, and were welcomed by Leanne and Yvonne alongside Clive and Elpis.

“How’re you feeling?” Leanne asked gently, leading us back towards our bed. Yvonne was walking next to her, her tail waving slightly as we went.

“{A little better…}” I rubbed my stomach gently. “{My stomach hurts though…}”

She gave a sad smile. “Hurting enough to not eat muffins?”

I shook my head quickly, opening the container and handing them out to people. Leanne helped and ruffled my hair a little while we were giving them out. “I was hoping you’d say that. Enjoy, kid.”

As I did, Elpis looked at me with pride. {You were strong back there. Having already learned lessons it took me a long time to accept. In no small part due to Clive’s help,} she said, nuzzling him.

He just smiled. “I just did my best to help you see how wonderful you are. Nothing more.”

Mama felt a bit happier as he said that while Elpis turned back to me. {You are correct, in that you are not like them. Nor are you like me, in the sense that you are not a Pokemon. My origins come from several different pokemon, but I am a Pokemon all the same. And just as you have named pokemon, so too should you name yourself.}

I raised an eyebrow and gave her a confused look. “{But I already did that? My name’s Aurora.}”

She chuckled. {Yes, you have. But I mean  _ what _ you are in this instance. You are neither Pokemon nor Human, and yet both. They say you are a human with special aspects. I say they are wrong. What do you say?}

I nomed my muffin while I thought.  _ I’m not a Human, and I’m not a Pokemon either. I don’t  _ **_wanna_ ** _ be human, either. And it’s important to be yourself… I’m definitely something in-between. Like a spectrum! Kinda. Ish. Is there a spectrum for species? Now there is. Anyway… what’re things in between? I don’t wanna be a middle. Or a sorta. Or a kinda. And they call us fused, so definitely not that one. Something tells me Mama blasted someone for calling her a half-breed, so not that either. What’s a good hybrid name… wait. Wait! That’s it! _

“{What about Hybrid?}” I asked curiously.

Elpis thought a moment. {Simple… but effective. And accurate. Do you feel alright being called a Hybrid?} She glanced to Leanne. {What about if she called you a Hybrid? Or yourself?}

I rolled the word around in my head some before nodding. “{I’m not a Pokemon or a Human, right? I’m somethin’ else. Something in between. And Hybrid is nice and short.}” I groaned. “{The evil lady who thinks she’s a pier would probably think of another name, and I wanna not be her.}”

Leanne chuckled, rubbing my back. “I think it fits. Good choice, Aurora.”

I looked up at her. “{And you’re a Hybrid too, right?}”

She paused for just a moment before nodding. “I suppose I am, yeah. Along with lots of other folk here.” She put a fist to her chin. “So we’re Hybrids now, huh…”

Yvonne gently cuddled up to her, making her chuckle a little while Mama smiled warmly at me. {You feel comfortable, my child.}

“{...I think it’s because it’s a word now,}” I started hesitantly. “{Kinda like how it’s easier to say I’m trans than what it means all the time.}”

She nodded, nuzzling close. {Such words can be important, my child. I am glad you have one that you feel comfortable with for who and what you are.}

The rest of that night was spent together. Elpis and Clive made it super clear they were ready to help however they could in terms of me feeling comfy being a Hybrid. Leanne, Yvonne and Mama were all making sure I felt okay after everything that’d happened that day. And I  _ really _ liked the muffins Rhodo gave us.

_ Everything might not be amazing, but… we can do this. We can get through this. They didn’t decide we’re Hybrids. We did. I decide who I am, not them. And they can’t do a thing about it. _

**Entry Log**

_ -#001 Vulpix fusion had her first bout of battles to test her abilities. Just as I predicted, unlike any other fusion she seems to have painless access to all her abilities unlike all the others. Her opponents were pitiful, but I can’t expect as much from a child. Nonetheless she performed satisfactorily against Sunkern and Weedle.  _

_ -Weedle began to disobey direct orders so I ordered for his disposal. Apparently #001 bonded with the worm and threw a tantrum at the thought of his death triggering a large explosion of fire and ice. For any other child this would be a waste of energy, but in this case it’s quite clear her powers are closely tied to her emotional state. I must look into this further. _

_ -From what I’ve observed so far ice begins to form when she’s sad and fire forms when she’s angry. I wonder if her powers manifest willingly only when she’s upset? I care not for pleasing the subjects, I shall leave it to Rhodo’s observation. _

_ -She seems to use fire, ice and quick attack instinctively than actively trying compared to the other fusions. She does not need to forcefully trigger abilities, it seems her brain has been rewired to know on its own accord. None of the other fusions have displayed this trait thus far. _

_ -Annoyingly enough, as with all children she has a tendency towards defiance. Her tirades and futile tantrums will soon be stamped out. Even Gothitelle has developed something of a strong disdain for #001 and Ninetails. I shall admit their backtalk is irksome. He has advised me of a course for discipline, but it is a bit too strict for such potentially useful subjects.  _

_ -I have collected a blood sample to examine her DNA structure compared to the other fusions. As promising as this may be, it can only become better. The other fusions have worked well enough, but are all still incredibly faulty. I must perfect my art. My perfect humanoids. _

_ -It has also come to my attention that Rhodo has dared to speak out of turn and his curse reactivated. Poor fool. Unintentional, of course, as he cannot keep his trap shut. My eyes and ears are on him always and I had best be sure to remind him of that fact once again. _

_ -Next on my docket I would like to test #033 Eevee fusion. I had intended to have her participate sooner, but according to Jean she needed time to grieve her dead parents before engaging in combat. Fair enough, her mind would be too clouded to operate effectively, but I believe it has been enough time. Finally I may witness how Eevee’s adaptable cells have merged with the human body. _

_ -On a lighter note, it appears Honchkrow found his live weedle snack quite tasteful. _

**_#001_ ** _ Fused Kalolan Vulpix (Aurora) & Kalolan Ninetales (Ivane) Status: Recovering _

_ #006 Fused Pyroar & Pyroar Status: Nominal _

_ #011 Fused Magcargo & Slugma Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

_ #019 Fused Carnivine & Carnivine Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

**_#020_ ** _ Fused Furret (Guinevere) & Furret (Chestnut) Status: Nominal _

**_#033_ ** _ Fused Eevee (Hazel) & Eevee (Vivian) Status: Nominal _

**_#043_ ** _ Fused Hydreigon (Paul) & Hydreigon (Tobias) Status: Deceased (Unstable, reverted to feral instincts, used for dissection) _

**_#053_ ** _ Fused Flygon (Leanne) & Flygon (Yvonne) Status: Nominal _

**_#068_ ** _ Fused Decidueye (Paris) & Decidueye (Legolas) Status: Recovering _

_ #072 Fused Swampert & Swampert Status: Nominal _

**_#078_ ** _ Fused Phantump (Razin) & Phantump (Urie) Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

_ #079 Fused Glalie & Glalie Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

**_#085_ ** _ Fused Blissey (Mabel) & Blissey (Haley) Status: Nominal _

**_#086_ ** _ Fused Bewear (Benny) & Bewear (Bors) Status: Recovering _

**_#123_ ** _ Fused Female Gallade (Lucia) & Gallade (Arden) Status: Nominal _

**_#132_ ** _ Fused Pachirisu (Ron) & Pachirisu (Rush) Status: Nominal _

**_#134_ ** _ Fused Silvally (Clive) & Silvally (Elpis) Status: Nominal _

_ #143 Fused Electrode & Electrode Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

_ # _ **_147_ ** _ Fused Sunflora (Garland) & Sunflora (Dijon) Status: Drained (lack of sunlight) _

**_#158_ ** _ Fused Rockruff (Koko) Status: Nominal _

**_#159_ ** _ Fused Dusk Lycanroc (Eclipse) & Dusk Lycanroc (Yuna) Status: Nominal _

_ #163 Fused Spiritomb & Spiritomb Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

**_#180_ ** _ Fused Samurott (Owain) & Samurott (Sue) Status: Nominal, Unfortunately _

**Author’s Note:** And thus begin the fights! We’re starting to move into the main section of what happens here, so I hope you’re ready. Not excited, if you’re excited about what this poor girl is gonna go through I’m concerned. And we get the title drop in this chapter as well! I can finally start writing Hybrid when Aurora sees a new Hybrid during this instead of ‘person who looks like me’ over and over. It’s a lot more succinct. I hope you look forward to seeing that actually be used in the future!

\-- _ Don’t we all love a title namedrop within a story? _


	5. Chapter 5: Pocket Monsters

_ And thus, young Aurora’s battle for survival has become much more literal. Through that hardship, she has learned more about herself. Solidifying her stance between Humans and Pokemon, as a Hybrid. It is always heartwarming to see another of my kin be at peace with their nature, even in situations as dire as these. These dire circumstances have pushed her to make decisions no child should ever be forced to make, and yet she must. For the sake of her sanity. A bright star is shining defiantly against the darkness. We can only hope that she continues to burn all the way to the surface and is not snuffed out. _

**_~~Dream World, Year 8520, Damidar, Radinam 28th~~_ **

I opened my eyes slowly, not even really sure what  _ I _ was feeling at that moment. Above me wispy white clouds lazily drifted across the pastel pink sky, the pure white snow soft beneath me.  _ But… I haven’t seen the sky yet. Or the sun, or the clouds, or anything really… _

My heart was beginning to settle on ‘distinctly upset’ in terms of feelings.  _ Everyone says we’re gonna get out, and we  _ **_have_ ** _ to, but… how? How many people gotta die before then? How long is it gonna be? From what Leanne says, it’s been a month already… What can we even  _ **_do_ ** _ to get out? Mama says we gotta be patient, but do we even have a plan…? _

“Aurora?”

I turned to see Rhea standing by the house, distinctly more built now. It didn’t look like it was totally finished, but the outside was done. There was a second floor and the beginnings of a roof tiled with red shingles, with a blackstone chimney off on one side. She looked concerned. “I’m glad to see you again, but… how are you holding up?”

I sat up, sighing. “I… I wanna see the sky, and for everyone to be free…”

Her heart dropped as she sat down with me, hugging me close. I weakly hugged her back. “I know. I know, and I promise it’ll happen. People are definitely looking for all of you. Things will get better. And I’ll be right here to help you get there.”   
My eyes began to water. “But… how many more people gotta die? Like Spiri…”

I felt a sudden jump in her heart, and turned to see her…  _ smiling? _ “Actually… I have a bit of a surprise for you about that. Can you come inside the house with me?”

I nodded slowly, getting up. Small prints were left in the snow where we sat, a trail of two pairs of footprints following us. The house smelled like… smoke, in a nice way. Pine. Fresh muffins.  _ Nice things. _

The doorknob squeaked a bit as Rhea turned it, the door swinging inwards to reveal-

{Aurora!} A small weedle had launched himself right at me, nuzzling into me as I caught him. My eyes widened as some part of me told me he wasn’t just a Weedle.

“Spiri…?” I whispered tentatively, my heart swelling. My eyes began to water. “That’s you, right…?”

{Me Spiri! You Aurora!} He wiggled his body happily.

A wide smile broke out across my face, tears streaming down it as I began to chuckle. Then laugh. “Spiri! You’re here!” I held him tight, cuddling him close. “You’re here…”

Rhea rubbed my back gently and I looked at her. “I found him while I was building the house. He seemed very excited to be able to see you again, so I told him if he waited here, you’d come by soon enough.”

“But… how…?” My words were tripping over themselves.  _ Didn’t you die…? How are you here…?  _

Spiri tilted his head. {Spiri appear here. Dunno why.}

I just shook my head after a second and looked at him worried. “Y-you’re not mad…? Since I couldn’t… I-I mean… I  _ tried _ , but because of me, you…”

{Mad?} Spiri felt genuinely confused. {Aurora friend, yes? Why mad at friend?}

The tears grew larger as Rhea held us both. “B-because I couldn’t save you… You died because of me… B-because I wasn’t strong enough to stop them…”

Spiri shook his head. His heart held no animosity towards me. Only compassion and worry. {It okay. I forgive friend. You did best.}

I just held him close and tight for a long time. Crying. Rhea was there with me and him, holding us both. She led us over to a cushy thing where I just leaned on her and held Spiri. I didn’t know what to say. My heart was a whirlwind of emotions, and none of them felt like making words. Only hugging him.

{Aurora nice. Gave Spiri name. No one so nice before, not even hive,} Spiri continued eventually. {End was… scary, but quick. Not all weedle so lucky.}

I shuddered, gently running my hand over his back. “Of course… you’re the best, you deserve the best…”

He nestled his head against me, feeling at ease. Rhea rubbed my back gently. “You did your best. Maybe… maybe you couldn’t do everything you wanted. But you did what you could. And you made Spiri happy and gave him a friend for the time you could. Isn’t that right Spiri?”

{Yes! Aurora and Spiri forever friends? Yes?} Spiri asked with innocent eyes. Sparkling just like they had.

“Of course!” I affirmed immediately, nodding and rubbing his back more. “Of course… I’m glad you wanna be my friend… Do you feel safe here…?” 

Spiri looked around before nodding, wiggling a little more into my arms. {Safe and warm.}

I made myself warmer, Spiri cuddling into a comfier spot while a small smile crossed my face again. “I’m glad… I like it here too.”

  
  


**_~~Iron Island, Year 8520, Damidar, Radinam 28th~~_ **

“Hazel, Vivian? Can you follow me?” Jean asked from the doorway. By this point, we all knew that it wasn’t really a question we could say no to. But it was nicer than her ordering us to do things.  _ She’s not the one who wants us to go. _

Hazel nodded slowly, her and Vivian getting up from next to us. I hugged her. “{Good luck!}”

She hugged me back, nodding. “Thanks. I’ll… probably need it.”   
Vivian stood tall. {I’ll be right with her, don’t worry!}

Eclipse slammed her fist into her open hand. “Go get ‘em, you got this!”

Koko fist pumped, smiling. “We’re with you all the way!”

Guinevere and Chestnut walked with the two over to Jean and Indra, nodding at the duo. Jean nodded back, gently saying “Come on” before they walked away and the door hissed shut.

Eclipse sighed loudly, laying back on the bed. The crappy springs squeaked as she did, creaking like they’d snap if you blew on them too hard. “Can’t they just give us a damn break already? I don’t mind a scrap but it’s like all they want us to  _ do _ is fight.”

“Language,” Guinevere chastised as she came back over, glancing at me and Koko. “Not everyone is old enough for such words.”

Eclipse rolled her eyes, muttering “Yeah, yeah…” but she didn’t keep going. Guinevere also gave Leanne a look, who chuckled awkwardly.  _ Mama said I shouldn’t use curse words, but I think she kinda likes that I know how evil the evil lady is. I’ll have to ask her more words to call someone evil. _

We were all sitting together, watching the screen now. We weren’t sure what was gonna happen, but it was probably gonna be shown there.

And we were right as it fizzed to life, showing Hazel and Vivian walking into the arena. Standing against them was… a not Vivian? They were little, on all fours and had tan and brown fur like her, but their fur was all spiky in stripes.

{That is a Zigzagoon, my child.}

I nodded slowly as Hazel waved awkwardly. “Er… hello?”

Zigzagoon scampered forward in a zigzag pattern, excitedly sniffing Vivian curiously before sniffing Hazel. {You’re a big eevee! Are you two sisters?}

The two glanced at each other before Vivian responded. {Uh… sort of? You could say that.}

{Weird…} Zigzagoon sat down, tongue lapping happily. {Wanna play?}

{Sure!} Vivian happily agreed while Hazel nervously smiled.

“I’ll do my best.”

Zigzagoon and Vivian started playing a rousing game of run and tackle, rolling around on the ground playfully. Zigzagoon’s cheerful nature was infectious as Vivian started smiling after each little roll. Hazel was wringing her hands a little, but that slowed as it became clear both were having fun and not really in any pain or anything. She began to smile.

“Zigzagoon!” The intercom boomed, causing everyone to freeze and look up.  _ Evil lady again…  _ “You were given a chance to play  _ fight.  _ I see no fighting.”

Hazel and Vivian shrank back at Spinel’s voice, but Zigzagoon still had the same goofy look on his face with a lapping tongue.

{Ah I forgot, oh well play fighting is fun too,} Zigzagoon turned around to Vivian and got into a battle position. {I’m the oldest and biggest in the litter, so I know how to rumble. Just like Mommy taught me!}

Vivian got into a battle stance, smiling a little. {I don’t mind a little scuffle here and there.}   
Hazel meanwhile took a couple steps back. “You okay with this Vivian…?”   
She nodded, glancing back with a smile. {Don’t worry about me, I’m fine!}

“Commence!” Spinel commanded before Zigzagoon and Vivian charged. The two of them clashed head-on, then began darting around after each other. Zigzagoon kept bouncing from side to side, which took Vivian a second to register before she started intercepting them.

It was definitely nothing that’d hurt anyone, really. They’d bite and scratch a little bit at each other, and knock into each other, but neither of them got hurt. It was more practice and play than a fight.

They’d growl at each other, kick sand at each other, stuff like that. The whole while though, Hazel was staying  _ far _ away from it. My ears drooped. “{She doesn’t wanna fight, does she…?}”

Guinevere shook her head. “Some people are pacifists by nature. For a child who’s been through so much and has so many negative connections with fighting… It’s no real surprise she’s reluctant.”

There was a moment of silence. Chestnut was worriedly watching the screen, and spoke what we were all thinking. {The question is if they’re going to let her not fight…}

_ They should… If she doesn’t wanna fight, she shouldn’t have to! I’ll fight instead! _

“Zigzagoon!” Spinel interrupted once again, halting everyone. “You have done well against Eevee, but you have two opponents. Focus your attention purely on the other girl. In the field you must be prepared to take down your target regardless of who may stand in your way. If you perform to satisfaction I shall reward you with ample time to rendezvous with your fellow littermates.”

Every word she spoke was wrapped in sinister chill, but Zigzagoon’s eyes lit up at the sound of the reward. He got in a battle stance once again, determined. This time his focus was on Hazel. She backed away in terror, almost tripping over her feet from the couple steps she took.

“Resume!” Spinel ordered.

{Here I come!} Zigzagoon darted towards Hazel. Vivian whirled around on a dime and dashed in between them and Hazel. Instead of before though, he just kept running around her. Hazel turned on her heel and ran, Vivian intercepting Zigzagoon as much as she could.

{She doesn’t like fighting! Don’t go after her!}

{But I wanna see my littermates!} He protested.

She hesitated, and even without being there I could tell she was thinking about the family they’d both lost. {S-still-}

{Sorry!} He kept running towards Hazel. Whose eyes were wide, and though she wasn’t making any noise she was very clearly terrified. It didn’t matter how much Zigzagoon ran after her, she’d always run in the opposite direction. Whether he was behind her, in front of her, wherever. She’d quickly turn and bolt the other way.

“Running away will only make it worse, #033,” Spinel’s venomous words dripping out of the intercom once again. “If you cannot fight for your life, then do you even deserve to keep it? I ponder this question everyday. Properly engage combat or you shall feel pain  _ far _ worse than whatever a zigzagoon could inflict upon you.” 

She cowered, looking up. “I-I’m sure we don’t really need to do this… r-right?” Vivian meanwhile had run over next to her, standing with her for support.

“I need you to do this and my needs are always met.  _ Now fight _ ,” She repeated.  **“Now.”**

Spinel’s words carried a wave of panic through everyone. Even the cheerful Zigzagoon began growling even more intensely at Vivian and Hazel. 

Tingling started to spread through me as the hatred from before burned hotter, the collar protesting. Eclipse growled. “She shouldn’t have to fight, you bitch!”

Guinevere glanced over with wariness, but only for a moment. Hazel meanwhile was shaking so bad it was amazing she was still standing. She looked at Zigzagoon before shutting her eyes tight, running at him with a fist clenched. “ _ I’m sorry! _ ”

And then she swung.

_ Very _ wide.

So wide in fact, there were several feet between her fist and Zigzagoon. He didn’t even have to dodge her running, his eyes just followed her as she went cleanly around him all on her own. Despite this though, she immediately turned towards him with tears in her eyes. “Are you alright? I didn’t hurt you, did I? Please tell me I didn’t!”

Zigzagoon was baffled. He had no words. {I uhhh-}

**“Attack,”** Spinel’s authority boomed once again, triggering something in the little Zigzagoon.

{Dodge!} He shouted before he leapt at her, fangs first. She screamed, holding her head with her hands as she curled down to her knees and tucked in her head. Vivian slammed into him to keep him away from Hazel before he could finish his charge.

I leapt off the bed. Mama looked at me. {My child?}

“{We gotta go help her!}”

She hopped off after me, looking concerned. {We do not have a way to get  _ to _ her, else I would gladly go to her aid.}

“{Well we gotta try!}” I ran over to the door, crouching down with the intention of trying to pry it up. I felt Jean and Indra outside, urgency flaring in both of them.  _ What’re they gonna do? _

The door hissed open with Jean and Indra standing there. Surprise flared in both of them, but quickly shrank back into the urgency they’d been feeling before.  _ Open the door? Why? _

“Aurora?” She asked, concern and hope twixt each other in her voice.

“{We gotta help her!}”

A Rhodo smile crossed her face. “I was hoping you’d say that. Come on!”

Leanne yelled out “You’ve got this!” after us as the door slammed shut, me and Mama running through the halls with Jean and Indra.

Mama glanced over at Indra. {Why did you…?}

He gave a teeny smile as we rushed through the corridor, grunts quickly pressing against the wall to get out of the way. {We cannot stand by and watch all this happen and not try to help you to  _ some _ extent.}

He tapped Jean with his tail, and she nodded before looking at us. “Spinel is…  _ really _ impatient when it comes to this kind of thing. If something doesn’t happen that interests her… You know what happens.”

I nodded as she continued. “I was hoping that if you fight in her place, she’ll let Hazel and Vivian go. It’s… kind of a long shot, and of course it’s up to you, but-”

“{Of course we’re gonna help!}” I interrupted. “{Someone’s gotta save her!}”

She sighed, relief in her heart as we stopped in front of the arena door, her swiping a card in a panel next to it. “Thank you. And good luck.”

The door hissed open, and me and Mama ran in before standing between Zigzagoon and Hazel. “{I won’t let you hurt her!}”

Zigzagoon looked straight past me and more towards Mama before shrinking back, afraid. He looked up towards the grunt and intercom for help as he was now severely outnumbered.

“ _ What  _ is the meaning of this?” Spinel’s tone was incensed.  _ But distracted. _ “I have not called for them.”

Jean’s voice crackled over the intercom. “Executive Spinel, clearly Ha-#033 is not capable of fighting. And yet she’s second only to #001 in terms of success rate. Eevee are perfectly capable of assisting allies in battle, without ever joining the fray themselves. I surmised that perhaps this, combined with the two’s bond, could allow for an as of yet unconceived usage of abilities could be showcased.”

_ In the words of Leanne? She’s bullshitting. _

There was a  _ long  _ pause. The only noise filling the room was the sound of everyone’s heartbeats pounding as we waited for someone to make a move. That was pierced by Spinel’s loud footsteps making their way to the arena. She looked as horrific as usual, accompanied by Gothitelle. They stood next to the grunt who sends out pokemon and looked down at us.

“Well in all fairness, your battles were cut short last time #001. But I had  _ no  _ idea you would take such a proactive approach by putting yourself into the arena. How commendable of you.” Spinel and Gothitelle clapped mockingly at us in unison. Me and Mama just glared at them both. “You shall serve as a fine example to all of your peers.”

She reached into her coat pocket, taking out a pokeball. “But I would have you know that  _ I  _ make the decisions here, and those who act otherwise must be punished.”

She tossed the ball towards the arena revealing a long, thin Pokemon. They had the same tan and brown fur as Zigzagoon, but it was matted and unkempt in several places. Rather than stripes she had long brown lines going down her back, her hackles raised and her bright blue eyes narrowed at us.

{Mommy!} Zigzagoon ran straight over to her, nuzzling her face. The new pokemon’s demeanor immediately shifted at the sight of Zigzagoon, nuzzling him back in return.

{My son, one of you has finally come back to me,} She purred before she eyed Mama again and walked in front of him growling. {Ninetales!? What is the meaning of this!? Do you dare dine on my son, fox?}

Mama’s face wrinkled in disgust. {Of course not, I-}

“Linoone!” The new pokemon looked towards Spinel and growled defiantly. “I am willing to forgive all your past rebellions  _ and  _ reunite you with the rest of your litter if you would do just one thing for me. Care to listen?”

_ She’s gonna say something evil and messed up isn’t she? _

Spinel smiled down upon us, the shadow in her eyes dancing gleefully at the prospect of further cruelty. “ _ Maim them all. _ ”

Hazel and Vivian got behind me and Mama, Mama’s tails bristling and flames licking the sides of her mouth as I put up my fists. “{We just wanna make sure our friends are okay!}”

Linoone’s face calmed after Spinel finished speaking before she turned to Zigzagoon. {Eevee should be enough for you to handle, my child, so direct your vigor towards them.} Linoone turned towards Mama. Her eyes were  _ slits _ . {We will be reunited with your siblings soon enough.}

Zigzagoon nodded happily at the prospect, standing proud. {Okay Mommy! I’m ready!}

Mama shuffled Hazel behind her with her tails, glancing at me. {I can handle this if you cannot, my child.}

I shuddered but shook my head, looking at Linoone. “{I get it, but still… I can’t let you hurt Hazel and Vivian!}”

Pride twinkled in Mama’s heart as Linoone growled at me. Vivian ran up and stood with me and Mama. {I’m helping too! I won’t let them hurt Hazel!} She glanced back. {Just stay behind us and lend a Helping Hand if you can, okay?}

Hazel, still shuddering, nodded slowly, holding one of her arms to try and keep it from shaking. “S-sure. Sure!”

Mama then turned back to Linoone. {You have my condolences, mother Linoone. For while you have your children to protect…} Orbs of fire began dancing around Mama, a chill wind whipping up. {So do I.}

Linoone eyed Hazel and I before turning back to Mama. {Safeguarding humans? I will not lose to such a  _ creature  _ again.} She clawed at the ground. {But I am now no better.}

{Incorrect on both counts. You fight to protect your cubs, and naught else. So long as that remains true, you will  _ never _ be their slave. As for me…} Blue flames billowed out from Mama. {I protect my child and her friends. Her family. My child?}

I balled my fists again. “{And we’re not humans! We’re Hybrids!}”

She didn’t pay attention. She only crouched down, her claws growing sharper as shadows seemed to refine them. Mama then gathered a ball of fire in her mouth, blazing brilliantly before she looked up and shot it. It screamed up before stopping short, bursting into a flaring orb of light and flame that shone in the sky.  _ It’s warm… It feels kinda like something- _

I didn’t have time to think of  _ what, _ as me and Vivian had to leap out of the way. Linoone streaked towards Mama, slashing at her with her claws whining through the air. Mama darted to the side, tails trailing behind her. The orbs around her bombarded the ground in her wake, forcing Linoone to dodge and preventing her from catching up. 

A purple-black glow began spiraling between Mama’s tails before forming into several twisting orbs, launching right towards Linoone. She dodged, but the weird orbs kept going until they smacked into Zigzagoon. He suddenly started teetering from side to side before Vivian knocked him away from Hazel.

Meanwhile, Linoone kept going after Mama. Flames burst to life on my fists. _ I won’t let you hurt my family! _ I ran right at her, punching her in the side  _ hard _ . Not as hard as I could, but hard enough. She flinched and glanced back at me in surprise, just long enough for some more orbs from Mama to hit her. This time though, they weren’t spinning weirdly. They were burning.

A dim orange glow smoldered across her body, lighting her fur up from inside. She staggered slightly before her eyes narrowed and she darted off in a streak of tan and white. I ran up to Mama, keeping my fists up.

{Linoone can run quicker if burned, paralyzed or so on. But she cannot do as much damage with her claws now.} I nodded, watching the trail. Even though she’d been fast before, she was  _ really _ fast now. Even so, I could see her legs pumping as she ran around on the walls of the arena in a straight line. She then leaped off the wall, barreling straight into Mama and biting down on her flank.

Mama only growled, opening her mouth and bathing her in a torrent of flame to force her to let go. I ran over and tackled into her head, stunning her just enough to loosen her grip on Mama. Whose tails then became hard, shiny and gray like Cookie’s had as she whacked her away.

_ How’re Vivian and Hazel doing? _ From a quick look over, Zigzagoon wasn’t teetering around anymore. Fortunately though, he and Vivian seemed to be pretty evenly matched. Hazel’s hands were clasped, glowing with a soft white light. Whenever Vivian slammed into him, a bit of white light shone on her fur.

Apparently worrying about your family isn’t allowed in this place though, as I only  _ barely _ turned and made an ice slab before Linoone slashed right into me. As is, her claws left a large gash in the ice and she forced me on the ground, onto my back. {Stay  _ out _ of this, human!}

“{I’m  _ not _ a human! I’m a Hybrid!}” I yelled back, my heart pounding while adrenaline flooded my system.

And then suddenly, everything above me was a roaring, blazing orange.

For a solid few seconds, the only thing I could see was the slight shadow of her feet on the ice slab before that too was blown away. Everything else was just a wall of searing fire, filling the room with a furious howl.

{Do  _ not _ touch my child.} Mama stepped forwards, the flames fading from the inside out until nothing but embers remained. She glared angrily towards Linoone, embers surrounding her. Linoone was currently burned, with her side towards us and growling.

She said nothing, only speeding off towards Hazel and Vivian who were still busy with Zigzagoon. My eyes went wide as me and Mama rushed over. Vivian noticed her coming and stood defensively in front of Hazel, whose eyes went wide as she cowered.  _ We’re not gonna make it! _

Mama’s eyes then glowed deep purple, a similar glow forming around Linoone before it faded. As it did though, she nearly tripped on her feet from how quick she was moving and had to go slower.

I took the chance, sprinting right for her before putting both my hands against her side and trying to do the fire burst thing I did to throw Maya off course.

It worked.

Just this time, instead of a shockwave that just sent her away? There was a small burst of flame as she went tumbling on her side, then rolling back up and leaping right for me. I yelped, Hazel clasping her hands again and the white glow going to me this time.

I quickly jumped to the side, and she had to slow down to follow me. Mama meanwhile was saying something to Hazel and Vivian, but I didn’t have time to pay attention. I was too busy trying to dodge Linoone’s slashes and bites. Fortunately, the white glow Hazel had made was surrounding me and making it much easier to dart about.

{My child!} My eyes darted over to Mama, who was covering the field in ice. There was only a small section where Hazel, Vivian and Zigzagoon still were where they were fighting. Vivian seemed to be doing pretty well, all in all. {Come to me!}

I nodded, but when I went to run past Linoone? She felt… hurt. Sad. Angry. Lonely. My ears drooped and I stopped. “{We don’t gotta-}”

I was cut off as she turned around, sprinting right for me. The orange glow underneath her fur lit up a bit, but only seemed to strengthen a white glow shining from her forehead.

And she hit me squarely in the stomach with it.

Pain shot through me as I screamed, both in surprise and pain, flying through the air. The world around me was spinning, but something inside me  _ refused. _ Refused to fall. Refused to be taken out of the fight.

Snow burst out from under me as I landed in a snowdrift, Mama looking at me in concern. Immediately after though, she turned to Linoone growling  _ furiously _ . Several small orbs of pale blue light shone from the ends of her tails, a storm of frozen beams streaking right towards Linoone.

She did her best to dodge, but there was a scrabbling, scraping sound as her claws struggled to find purchase on the ice below her. She managed to dodge a couple, but the ensuing upwards icicles cut off her options until several managed to strike her directly.

A fine cold mist filled the area around her, Zigzagoon looking over in worry. I could barely hear what everyone was saying, my ears still ringing from the impact from earlier. The air itself began to burn as a ball of fire formed in Mama’s mouth, yet the snow around us didn’t melt. Flames licked the sides of her mouth before she launched it right at Linoone. The mist was quickly blown away, showing how she was frozen to the ground. Her eyes went wide before a blazing pillar engulfed her, sending a scalding burst of air and heat out around the blast.

Zigzagoon yelled something I couldn’t hear, but Mama only turned to run to me and nuzzle me gently. {Are you alright, my child?!}

I shook my head slowly, pushing myself up. My stomach still hurt like  _ hell _ . “{Kinda… I’ll be okay.}”

She breathed a huge sigh of relief, but…  _ I can’t rest yet. _

I forced myself up, leaning on Mama. {Easy, my child.}

“{Can… can we go to Linoone and Zigzagoon?}”

Surprise, alarm and rage flared in her heart before acceptance. {I… yes, my child. We can.}

She helped me over to where the smoke was clearing, Zigzagoon nuzzling into Linoone. Her eyes were still open, but only just. The ice around her was beginning to melt until Mama’s eyes glowed a moment. It all turned to water in an instant. She flopped on the floor, glaring at the both of us.

_ She can’t see her kids… but Hazel and Vivian were gonna die! But still…  _

I walked over, Zigzagoon growling. I just looked at them apologetically, tears in my eyes, before I hugged Linoone around the neck. “{I’m sorry…}”

Linoone simply stared at me. {...I understand now why Ninetales wishes to protect you…}

The tears grew larger and my throat felt tight, but I just shook my head and hugged her. “{What’re your names? And if you don’t have them, you should! The humans might not know them, but they can’t take them away from you!}”

{The humans…?} Linoone’s voice was tired and her breathing labored, but she managed to lean into Zigzagoon’s touch. {This one is called Stripe. My mother called me Linea as a cub.}

I nodded, hugging both her and Stripe tight. Stripe was spikier than I realized, but Linea’s fur was nice and smooth. She was losing consciousness fast so I let them go so they could have a bit of time. Linea leaned into Stripe who was tearing up.

{Mommy?} He sniffled.

{I am sorry, my son,} Linea nuzzled him. {I am sorry to you and your siblings. Remember, that I lo-} Her voice was cut off as she disappeared into scarlet once again. Stripe’s eyes widened as he tried to jump over the light to keep her down, but she phased right through him.

{MOM-} Stripe followed immediately after. Vivian looked away, understanding, despair and rage in her heart. Tears were streaming down Hazel’s face with nothing to stem the flow. Mama’s eyes were hard, and my fire was burning again.

We all looked up to Spinel holding both of their pokeballs with a disdainful and bored look. Gothitelle had his arms crossed before he turned to Spinel, his eyes glowing blue a moment.

“Yes, you’re right. This time I think it best we indulge your idea,” She replied.  _ What are they doing? He didn’t even say anything. _

Her gaze fell to the pokeballs in her hand. “That went about as well as one could’ve expect when prey and predator face off.” She turned to the grunt and handed him both pokeballs. “I am a woman of her word, but Linoone was not. Granted she is a mere linoone, what was there to expect? Mister Bronco, do with them as you see fit. I could not care less.”

I finally had a name for the meanie grunt who kept taking all my friends. Tearing them away from their families. “Of course, Professor.” Bronco saluted. Spinel nodded before turning to look down at us all. Disappointment painted her expression.

“And I had thought only the Samurott duo were the only actors among you, but it seems you four are the true performers today. Oh no, we cannot forget Miss Jean and her stellar part in this show, a round of applause for Miss Jean.”

Had there been a Kricketot there, I don’t even know if they would’ve made a sound.  _ I dunno where this is going, but anything involving her doesn’t go well. Is she gonna have us try to eat babies like she does? The heck does she mean by a show? That wasn’t performing at all! _

Spinel snapped her fingers, the noise ringing out. Almost like a wave, all the grunts and white coats suddenly began clapping nervously as she stared them all down. Another snap was all it took to make them stop. Her focus shifted to Hazel and Vivian.

“Even if you had no powers, a simple kick in the stomach would’ve sent a zigzagoon reeling _enough_. But to watch you run and flail about the arena was simply a waste of time and squander of life.”

Gothitelle clicked his teeth before shaking his head. {It seems her parents’ deaths have left her more inept then we realized. A shameful human who wastes her newfound abilities. The admins collected a sorry stock.}

Spinel nodded along. “A sorry stock indeed.” She honed in on Hazel once again. “Although… it seems she is capable of using Helping Hand without any recoil, so at least something was gleaned from her today. Why so much aid was needed to defeat a Zigzagoon I will never know, but I digress.”

Spinel turned to Mama and I, the shadow in her eye lurking in the golden sea. Waiting to strike. “It seems I have underestimated your ability in battle, Ninetales. To correct this dishonor, Gothitelle has proposed the  _ perfect  _ opponent to test out the full extent of  _ all  _ of your capabilities.” She reached into her coat once again, revealing a black pokeball with yellow stripes. “This one has been quite antsy as of late. I am sure she will  _ love  _ a little ‘play fighting’.”

Spinel tossed the pokeball into the arena. White light shone out of it as it opened, forming into a large brown and orange ball that then impacted the floor with a thundering  _ boom. _ Once the dust had cleared, before us stood a bipedal Pokemon. They had a stony, brown hide and thick orange plating. Two horns crowned their head, one simpler while the other was aimed forwards and etched with a spiral pattern. A large tail ending in a wrecking ball of stone jutted out behind them, while their arms were twin cannons of rock. Three fingerlike protrusions were on each one, of a paler stone with a hole that faded into darkness within their hands. They were built like a  _ mountain. _

Vivian got into a defensive stance, and Hazel took a couple steps back. I struggled a bit but stood up on my own, shaking my head. “{Mama…?}”

Her tails were brisling, and I could feel alarm flaring in her heart as she stood defensively in front of us all. { _ Ilven… _ A  _ Rhyperior _ , of all opponents?} She glanced back. {Stay behind me, my child. You as well, young Eevee and Hazel. This… is not an opponent you can withstand.}

Hazel’s eyes went wide. “B-but I can help a little, right?”

{So long as you stay  _ far away _ from her and can dodge boulders, you can.}

Hazel took a couple more steps back, Vivian doing so as well. I meanwhile stood with Mama. She looked at me, eyes full of concern. {We are  _ very _ bad against those of stone, my child. You should stay back.}

I shook my head. “{Maybe I  _ should _ , but I wanna help! I’ll do my best!}”

She sighed, nuzzling me gently. {At least… do not attempt to take any attacks head on. Their attacks shatter ice without issue and snuff out flame.}

I shuddered, but nodded and put up my fists against the Rhyperior. She looked at us all curiously.

“Dear Rhyperior!” Spinel caught the attention of Rhyperior, who turned around eagerly at the sound of Spinel’s voice. “I know you’ve been aching to test out your power on some sturdier opponents, but today I must ask you to discipline some vagabonds for me. Can you do that?”

Rhyperior pounded her arms together, grinning. {Of course, Miss Spinel, whatever you ask!}

“Such a loyal subject,” Spinel smiled her twisted smile before addressing us once again. “Rhyperior is one of my most beloved projects. Genetically enhanced to be superior to the rest of her kind and her practice battles have showcased her prowess well. You are all nails and she is the hammer. Make an example of those who dare trifle with Galactic. With Spinel Srid!” 

Mama rolled her eyes. {Yes yes your ego is the size of the moon, we’re aware.}

I chuckled.

Rhyperior huffed, her eyes glowing a dangerous red. { _ You have grieved the professor. For that you must suffer! _ } Rhyperior kicked off the ground, moving  _ far  _ too fast that made sense for a pokemon of her size and stature. She aimed a red glowing fist straight to where Mama was standing.

Mama streaked to the side, several ghostly orbs trailing in her wake before spiraling towards Rhyperior. A few impacted against her orange plates, but several managed to strike her directly.

{Oh no, confuse ray. Whatever shall she do?} Gothitelle stated.

Mama glared over. {Comments from the peanut gallery are unnecessary.}

Gothitelle half bowed mockingly. {Allow me to bless you all with one last warning then. Jump.}

Rhyperior’s movements were awkward and harried, but she seemed to have enough focus to gather light brown energy to her feet before she began jumping on the ground. Waves of force shook the battlefield in a miniature earthquake.

Hazel and Vivian got bowled over almost immediately, while Mama leaped onto the walls and began sending waves of her own everywhere. Instead of shockwaves though, they were large waves of snow that coated the ground and dampened the shockwaves’ impact. I was doing my best to run on that, and jump from wall to wall kinda like Cookie had.

Rhyperior stood motionless a moment, her eyes still dazed, but she aimed her fist towards where Hazel and Vivian were standing. The ground underneath them began to glow before hot dirt and mud shot out, flooding them both.

Spinel clapped nonchalantly. “Even with her mind muddled she still can sense the earth’s lifeforce better than anyone.”

My eyes went wide and I ran over, making as cold of a wind as I could to counteract it. When I reached them though, they were both out cold on the ground. My ears tilted back and I glared towards Rhyperior, quickly grabbing them both and taking them to the furthest corner of the arena and hiding them in the snow.  _ It’s not much, but I hope you can rest well… _

Suddenly, the snow shone blindingly bright. My eyes quickly adjusted, but it just seemed to throw Rhyperior off even more. Mama had shot up the same burning ball from earlier, bolstering the first one and renewing it. She then ran around behind Rhyperior, flames turning to raw energy and a green glow forming into an orb before a  _ gargantuan _ beam of light razed the arena.

Rhyperior was utterly bathed in it, a low whine filling the arena before the light slowly dissipated into motes of light. The armor on her back was charred, but it only seemed to wake her up.

{Clever fox,} Rhyperior huffed before she whirled around faster than even  _ I  _ could see, slamming the ground where Mama stood. The ground  _ exploded  _ where she hit, hot mud and dirt flying everywhere again.

Mama only  _ just _ made it away, lots of dirt and mud nipping at her heels. The orb was still kept in her tails, but it was quickly ripped into nine separate, smaller orbs that each one of her tails held. Her eyes never left Rhyperior as the orbs started bombarding her with small beams of light, while Mama’s eyes glowed and the orbs shone brighter.

“She’s launching miniature solar beams while conducting a nasty plot,” Spinel hummed in the gallery. “It seems she’s more than just an exotic half breed pet. She’s been trained well… hmmm.”

_ She’s not a  _ **_pet_ ** _ , she’s my mama! And she’s way better than you are! Of course you didn’t expect her to do cool stuff, she’s super cool and you don’t know what that even is! _

Rhyperior stepped on the ground, a rock wall appearing in front of her and blocking all the mini solar beams. She noticed me in the corner of her eye and gave me a threatening grin before  _ shattering  _ her own wall, sending rock shards flying towards Mama. I then noticed Rhyperior dug her foot in the ground sending dark brown energy into it, but nothing happened after that. 

_ What’s she doing? _

Several stones struck Mama, a couple orbs on her tails winking out. A bunch others though got incinerated by the beams of light, and the whole time she kept on the move, weaving in and out of the snow and never staying in the same place.  _ I gotta help somehow! The ice Mama made before didn’t melt until she wanted it to… maybe mine does the same? And… _

I sat down, making a small, hollow orb of ice with a single hole in my hand and began filling it with fire. It didn’t melt, just like Mama’s ice hadn’t. Once it felt like it was about to shatter, I closed the hole with more ice, put it next to me and started making another one.  _ Mama said to not get close, but I can help without getting close! _

Mama was having more trouble moving around though. Whatever Rhyperior had done when she had stuck her foot in the ground had begun to make the arena ground sootier and harder to move in. Wherever there was snow it’d begin to sink into the dirt.

Mama’s eyes narrowed, and she began launching the mini beams at all sides of Rhyperior. She blocked it easily enough, but Mama’s eyes hadn’t stopped glowing. A low, hypnotic hum began to fill the arena. Rhyperior seemed to understand what was going on as she dug her foot even deeper into the ground causing a  _ huge  _ rock spire littered with spikes to jut out of the ground exactly where Mama was about to land.

Her eyes went wide and she only  _ barely _ turned to not get hit dead on, a spire of her own but of ice lancing out of the ground to help her leap away as the hum was cut short. Her fur was clearly bloodied, and yet she kept glaring at Rhyperior. She then howled, an icy wind billowing around her with snow and shards of ice filling the arena. Snow began to coat the ground once more, and the orb she’d made earlier was blocked out from all the snow and ice everywhere. Yet I could see perfectly fine through it all, watching as Mama treaded carefully on the snow. Her eyes were still glowing, the shards of ice getting bigger and bigger the longer they were.

_ You can do it, Mama! _ A bit of snow covered my small pile of ice balls with fire in them, and my ears twitched.  _ That’d be good too! _

I kept on making them as Rhyperior squinted through the snow before angrily grunting, her voice deep.

{I grow weary of your cumbersome hit and run style, Ninetales. Fight me head on!}

Mama’s eyes shone and her voice appeared several feet away from where she actually was.  _ She doesn’t wanna give away where she is… _ {Not all of us are fortunate enough to take blows as well as a  _ walking mountain. _ I will fight my battle my way. You fight yours.}

Rhyperior dug her feet into the ground once again, growling in the direction of Mama’s fake voice before turning to where she really was. {I grow tired of your manipulations, so I shall produce my own. Watch as your ice breaks against my dust!} Rhyperior pointed her arms forward before she began spinning  _ much  _ faster than she ever should, sand overflowing from the holes within her arms. I looked up to see that the sun Mama had created was beginning to fade as it was overtaken by the sandstorm. The dust began to rub on my skin as the sand and ice began to fight for dominance.

A couple of the top orbs began to hiss as sand struck away layers of ice, and I quickly covered the spots with ice again before pushing them deeper into the snow and burrowing in a little myself. In the snowdrift, the sand couldn’t reach me as easily and I could keep making my orbs.

_ Just a few more… _

{No matter the weather, I can still see you all. Including the two you’ve hidden away,} Rhyperior rumbled as she dug her foot into the ground again, this time the ground began to split. The crack began creeping through the ground right where Hazel and Vivian were hiding.

{ _ No. _ } The blizzard died down, but only for a moment. The sand in the air suddenly all glowed white-hot, then began spiraling directly for Rhyperior. Several small bits of glass from the sheer heat clattered to the floor as the glowing sand began rushing back from where it’d come from. Right into Rhyperior’s arms.

She yelled in surprise and pain, trying to shoot it out. At the same time however, the sand was suddenly blown away from around Mama as what could only be described as sheer cold emanated from her.

{ _ Do not underestimate me. _ } Several spires of ice began cracking through the ground, overtaking the cracks Rhyperior had made and freezing them shut before they began to engulf Rhyperior.

From the balcony I could spy Spinel’s annoyance and Gothitelle’s surprise at Rhyperior being caught off guard.

{She’s about to lose, she got too cocky,} Gothitelle noted.

Spinel stomped her foot, sending a loud clack out. “Rhyperior!  _ Use Fissure on yourself. _ ”

Rhyperior managed to meet Spinel’s glance before a strong desire to not fail her replaced the cocky attitude she had before. Her eyes glowed brown before the ground beneath her opened up completely, swallowing her whole. Sand and dirt rushed in the hole as she sunk in deeper and deeper into the earth.

_ What… just happened? _

Everything was quiet. There was no movement at all. Mama began walking around the battlefield carefully, looking out for any signs of Rhyperior’s appearance. Except I could still  _ sense  _ her emotions. I wasn’t sure exactly where she was, but as far as I could tell she hadn’t moved much.

“{Mama!}” Her ear perked, swiveling towards me. “{She’s underground, but in the same kinda place as before! Sorta…? She’s not going far!}” I yelled, piling the orbs I’d made into a big snowball.   
She nodded, moving away from that area and staying cautious the whole time. That’s when the ground began to shake even harder than before. Mama and I could barely stand due to all the shockwaves, before I looked over to Hazel and Vivian. Hoping they’d be alright. 

I scanned the field to find parts of the ground about to burst when water  _ shot  _ out of the hole, showering everything. That’s when I noticed that the ground under Mama and I was beginning to rise too.

_ Uh oh. _

Mama leaped to the side and I quickly rolled my snowball away, a huge geyser of water blasting out from the ground right where we were standing. Similar geysers began to erupt all over the arena, me and Mama doing our best to shield ourselves with ice. 

That’s when I felt a particularly larger geyser begin to unearth below me. I leaped out of the way to find Rhyperior shooting out of a geyser, attempting to pummel me.

Fortunately, she  _ definitely _ pummeled the ball I’d been making.

The sound of ice shattering filled the air as her horn punctured several of the orbs. The condensed flames inside began setting each other off, and the snowball glowed bright orange from within before it  _ erupted _ in a blaz. Before Rhyperior had even reached the ground, a huge ball of raging fire had engulfed her with thousands of ice shards embedding themselves into her hide. None of them were particularly deep individually, but there were a  _ LOT _ of them. Just the shockwave blew me back a little, my hair blown all about.

I ran as far away as quick as I could, but I was smiling.  _ It worked! It actually worked! _ I could feel pride coming from Mama. I didn’t care about the evil lady and Gothitelle. They were evil. It didn’t matter. What mattered is that I  _ helped _ against someone Mama was having trouble with!

That is until the dust cleared. Rhyperior was standing firm, eyes glowing with dangerous intent. The ice shards were littered all over her body and scorch marks across her armor. She growled in a low, amused tone.

{You are quite an intelligent child. A weaker opponent would not do well underestimating you.} Rhyperior began dusting off the shrapnel like it wasn’t even there, with only a slight wince every so often at her joints to show she felt anything. She adjusted her arms, making sure sand could flow normally. {Did you know a rhyperior’s carapace can withstand volcanic eruptions? We also submerge ourselves in sediment so our bodies can rebuild. It is a lot of maintenance to maintain this body, but…} Her eyes honed in on me and Mama. {It is all worth it in the end.}

_ That… that had to have done  _ **_something_ ** _ , right? _ I looked at her warily, trying to find anything that wasn’t a bit of ash or something to show that I’d actually affected her at all. Her stance seemed a  _ little _ heavier than before as she dug her foot into the ground, transferring energy into the earth.  _ That’s… something? _

{ **Fall.** } 

Rhyperior darted straight towards Mama, using the earth to accelerate her movements. Rhyperior’s arms loaded jagged rocks into both her palms. Mama began to dodge, but the energy Rhyperior had inserted into the ground earlier suddenly launched out of the ground as a dangerous rock spire. 

Walling off her immediate exits. 

I ran forward screaming as I watched Rhyperior  _ slam  _ both of her arms into Mama through the rock spire and straight into the side of the arena.

A gigantic impact shook the entire arena. 

Mama gasped in agony as she began to slide down the wall, two gaping wounds filled with rock shards all over her abdomen. Blood splattered her usually pristine fur and part of the wall. Each breath she took caused the rock shards to shift, furthering her pain even more. Blood trickled down her face from where she hit her head and her right hindleg was bent in a way it  _ never _ should.

Mama’s pain was  _ unimaginable _ , but she made brief eye contact with me before a soft glow began shining from her eyes. Rhyperior leapt forward again, slamming her arm directly into Mama’s stomach. Digging her deeper into the wall. I expected to feel more mind numbing pain and fear, but… it didn’t change. It was like she wasn’t being hit anymore.

_ What Rhyperior’s hitting… that isn’t Mama? _

The Mama in front of me was limp, lifeless and being tossed around like a ragdoll. But there wasn’t any fading of feeling, or her heart or anything. It wasn’t like when a Pokemon got sucked back into a Pokeball.

Instead, all those feelings were underneath the floor. Within the same tunnels Rhyperior had dug out earlier. She was hiding. Waiting.

And she didn’t want to be found.

_ She wants me to pretend. I can pretend… humans are fooled by pretending pretty easily. Rhyperior is too angry to notice and I don’t think Gothitelle caught it. Mama’s okay… I just gotta make it seem like she’s not. I can pretend to be sad and upset. I’ve been that a lot lately. _

Rhyperior gripped fake Mama’s face and slammed it into the wall. Again. And again. And again. And again. Over and over and over.

I ran over, tears streaming down my face from the stress of everything. Even if I knew it wasn’t Mama… it still hurt. A cold wind encased my fists. “{ _ Stop! Leave Mama alone!}” _ I started slamming them against her, but the only thing that happened was my fists hurt clearly more than I was hurting her. Until she slammed me against the wall with her tail, my head cracking against the wall before I crumpled against the floor. I could barely see anymore, the world was spinning and dark with my ears ringing.

Eventually she stopped hurting the not Mama. Her fake body slid to the ground, bashed and broken. Rhyperior’s arms vibrated intensely before a large boulder materialized in her hands. 

_ Large enough to crush Mama… If I just sit here, they’ll catch on that that’s not actually Mama. If it was… that’d kill her... _

I dragged my arm around and launched several fireballs from where I was, barely able to even aim through the haze my vision was. Some went wide and burst harmlessly against the glass. The others hit the boulder, easily larger than Rhyperior, but they didn’t do anything. “{Don’t… Mama…!}” I yelled, weakly. Rhyperior raised the boulder above her head.

I screamed for her to stop.

She slammed it down on Mama. The explosion blew me away, slamming me into a wall again. I smacked against it, landing face first on the ground this time. I was barely able to look up and see that Rhyperior had stepped back to admire her work. A giant boulder where Mama used to be.  _ And they think she’s dead. _

I tried to push myself up. I probably couldn’t have stood up even if I wanted to, and struggling to get up and failing probably helped fool the others into thinking she was dead.  _ Everything still  _ **_really_ ** _ hurts… but at least Mama’s alive.  _

{Finally, the half breed is dead.} Gothitelle spoke up first, clapping his hands satisfied. {Took long enough.} I didn’t smile, but a bit of joy sparked inside me.  _ No she’s not. Stupid asshole. _

“I did not expect this to be such a challenge, but we underestimated her capabilities despite her diminished state. I’ll have to speak with Cyrus about increasing the training regimens for all of our staff. The bar has been sufficiently raised,” Spinel noted. “What is the state of the other two?”

Gothitelle’s eyes glowed before speaking. {They’ll live.}

Spinel pressed a hand to her ear. “Joyous. Collectors, clean this mess up.” 

She looked down at me before a glint appeared in her eye. “Actually… Rhyperior, knock out #001. I have another test in mind as she’s currently available.”

Something within me stirred. As much as it hurt. As much as the world was spinning, and the pain was near blinding. I forced myself to my feet, clenched my fists and forced flames to engulf them. “{I’m not…  _ I’m not…  _ some test! And… I  _ never _ will b-}”

I felt a coarse, rough hand grip my head before lifting me up. I held on, trying to pry them off as they were crushing my ears. It did  _ not _ help them feel any better. Rhyperior turned me around so I could stare into her face.

{Orders are orders. Sleep child,} Rhyperior raised her other hand and bonked me ‘lightly’ on the head. For her I bet she thought it was light, but there was a loud crack before everything faded to black. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My head was still  _ pounding _ when I woke up. My limbs were tingling, almost numb and heavy as metal as I forced my eyes to open. Which… didn’t inform me any more, really.

Around me was a pale mist listly floating close to the ground. And it seemed to go on endlessly in whatever direction I looked. There were no walls I could see, no mist curling against them or against anything. The ground didn’t even look like  _ ground _ . It was just an odd, shifting black mass with purple swirls in it every so often. That same mass engulfed the space, filling it with a ghostly chill  _ eerily _ similar to when the Spiritomb soul had shot through me.

_ Did I die? Is this where you go when you die? _

I forced myself to my feet, holding my head. No matter which way my ears flicked, there was nothing to hear but my own heartbeat. Just them moving was intensely painful from them having been crushed. My heart was thumping against my chest, at the thought of the state Mama had been in.

When I tried to think though, it was  _ very _ fuzzy.  _ Well… I won’t find anything out standing around, I guess? I gotta get back to Mama. _ I made a small flame in the palm of my hand before it floated gently next to me. The mist receded slowly, forming a small divot where I was.

I began to walk. The longer I did though, and the less my head was  _ pounding _ to where I could barely think? The more the situation sank in.

_ Mama’s hurt! And wherever this is, I need to not be here! _

My walk turned into a jog, then a run, then a full on sprint. But no matter how far I ran, nothing seemed to change. Even when I’d glance behind me to see that there was a trail in the mist, there was no way to tell how far I’d gone. How much closer I was to Mama.

Fear spiked in my heart, but I just ran faster.  _ There has to be an end somewhere! And I won’t find it by just standing around! _

The longer I ran though, the more trouble I had breathing. But… it didn’t feel like it was just exhaustion. That wasn’t bothering me too much. The pain was, but not exhaustion. It was like the air itself was getting thinner and thinner.

_ I gotta… keep going! Not yet! _

I don’t know how far I ran. I just know that eventually I had fallen onto my back, gasping for air with only the comfort of the little orb of flame I’d made before. 

Until a hand reached over and snuffed it out. 

I looked up to find golden eyes piercing through the darkness and an amused smile. A smile befitting the horror standing before me.

“Greetings #001. How was your nap?” Spinel asked.

As much as my lungs were screaming at me, I forced myself up and glared. “{Go away! I’m not scared of you!}”

Spinel clicked her teeth, shaking her head. “Now now #001, all this bravado won’t keep you alive. It’ll only make everything much more painful.” Spinel sighed and I could feel the fog grow even thicker. “But that is why we are here. You are a difficult child, but a child nonetheless in need of discipline. It has become very clear that I need to take a more hands on approach with you.” 

With each word her tone grew more grave as she began to walk towards me. The fog bolstered her while it drained me. It rushed behind her, almost swelling her form as she seemed all the larger. The fog building a mass behind her.

_ I… don’t care! I won’t let you! I’m not yours, and I never will be! You can’t make me! _

I planted my feet against the ground, her steps growing slower and the fog’s curling going at a snail’s pace. It rushed away from me as I blasted forwards, going to punch Spinel right in the stomach.

But I just went through her.

I yelped, barely catching myself before I skidded right on my face. I picked myself up quickly, whirling around with my ears flicking every which way. Trying to find  _ any _ indication of where she was.

“Do you believe humans powerless, #001?” I whirled around to find Spinel behind me, hands behind her back. “You say you are not human, so do you believe us weak and disgraceful creatures? That you are better?”

_ What does that have to do with anything? _ “{You’re evil! I don’t try and hurt people for stupid reasons like you do! And whatever you make, you use it to hurt everyone else because you can!}”

“Is that so?” Spinel smirked. “So your ire is directed primarily at me? That is fair… what I’m doing may hurt all of  _ you _ , but your sacrifice will benefit this planet for eternity. Humans cannot understand pokemon without unorthodox means. By creating fusions I am simply bridging the gap. You don’t need to be grateful, but this generation’s descendants shall be.”

My mind was  _ reeling. _ There were  _ so _ many contradictions in what she was saying it hurt my head.  _ So you want me to talk with Pokemon, but you get angry when I talk with them? You wanna hurt people to make people happy? None of that makes sense! And she sounds like she understands me right now, when humans don’t usually. What’s even going on? _ “{People shouldn’t have to be hurt to make other people happy! Maybe you’re too stupid to think of ways for that, but there’s people who can! If you’re just gonna brag about making people when all you do is hurt them, you should go away and leave everyone nice alone!}”

Spinel finally frowned, crossing her arms. “Usually I don’t entertain children with discussion, especially when persuasion is futile, but I shall humor you as you’ve proven to have more spine than most adults. I frankly could not care any less about any of you.”

_ No, I could’ve never figured that one out. _

“I’ve read your files. Most of you are meaningless nobodies that likely wouldn’t amount to much of anything. There are a few blips here and there, but frankly no one of worthwhile substance. Which is why I don’t care about all of your happiness since according to my calculations, none of you would impact the planet in any meaningful way. To make use of all of you, Team Galactic has taken it upon themselves to utilize your useless bodies for science. Unfortunately, you were picked for the first batch, to see how humans truly handle pokemon DNA. Thankfully, it has been a rousing success… for most.” She shrugged at the end.

Flames began to burn around me, eating at the mist.  _ She just thinks everyone’s worthless?! Because they don’t meet some stupid standard?! They’re all people! People who wanna just live and be happy! And she’s ruining their chances for that and she doesn’t even  _ **_care!_ ** __

During her entire speech, one thing was made abundantly clear by her heart. The only thing she cared about in all of that?  _ Her. _ “{The only people who should go away are all of you! You’re just hurting people for stupid reasons you’re telling yourself! You just care about doing evil things!}”

Spinel seemed to  _ enjoy  _ my anger, closely observing the fire as though I was an interesting bobble. She took a step back and faded into the fog.

“The outside world has been built by evil people committing evil acts, #001.” I whirled around to find Spinel strolling nonchalantly. “Scientists experimenting on a few measly rattata changed the face of medicine forever and now pokemon’s lives are saved everyday. It was unfortunate, but someone had to do it. Do you believe they should’ve let the rattata be and-”

“{ _ Duh! _ }” I cut her off, shaking my head a bit. Her anger flared after I interrupted her. “{They should’ve been left to live their lives! You sayin’ cruel things with awful reasons why over and over doesn’t change anything! You just make things sound like you’re all smart and special, but you’re just evil humans failing to make what you do sound helpful!}” I’d had enough of her talking.

_ I was wondering why the humans were doing all this. Turns out it was just because they think they’re better and can do what they want. Just like Mama said. And I don’t need to hear more evil human talk! _

Spinel pinched the bridge of her nose. “Pointless. Why do I bother? Fine-”

“{Cuz you just wanna make yourself feel better and you know you’re horrible!}” I interjected again, grinning a teeny bit.  _ No long winded speeches about you being better than us for you! _

I could see a vein appear on her head as she grinned madly. “No more justifications then. I will do what I want with  _ all of you _ until-”

I blew a raspberry.

_ “You little fucker.” _

Spinel warped right in front of me with the pokeball in hand. “We are going to perform a little experiment. I implore you to fight back.  **My fury deserves an outlet** .”

As much as I  _ wanted _ to punch her right in front of me? That one felt like the clone Mama had made before. Where I actually felt her twisted heart, her impending glee at doing something horrible…

_ That _ was right behind me.

Time slowed down again as I whirled around and punched Spinel right in the stomach.  _ Hard.  _ “{You  _ deserve _ to  _ go away! _ }”

Spinel hunched over as I dug my fist as deep as I could, then leapt away. I wasn’t giving her  _ any _ chances to do something evil. She stayed in that position for a second before standing up straight and fixing her dress.

“Excellent deduction. You were not phased by the illusion and struck where your blindspot was. This time you weren’t even holding back. Yes, I’ve noticed.” Her eyes shone bright. “But allow me to demonstrate a real punch.”

Spinel slowly curled her right hand before vanishing into the fog. Not even a millisecond later I felt her fist dig into my abdomen, lifting me into the air a second before she grabbed the back of my head and slammed it into the floor. This time though… I didn’t just feel her behind me. But I also did? Something felt  _ off _ , and not just in the usual evil cruel human way.

“Much better. Now, let us see if pokeballs work on fusions...” Spinel muttered as she tapped it over my head.

Instantly, an  _ intense _ burn razed my entire body. Not just outside. Every inch of me, inside and out, felt like it was being scorched by unearthly flames. I opened my mouth to scream, but I couldn’t. I shut my eyes from the sheer pain, and when I opened them again?

It was dark, but not like the place from before.

Instead of standing on anything, it felt like I was floating. Instead of a swirling black mass, there was just an empty, dark void. I couldn’t see my hands. I couldn’t see  _ anything. _ All I knew was that it was  _ painful _ .

Some part of me registered it was easier to breathe there. I took as much of a breath as I could without a body. Another part felt a tickling at the back of my mind. Like Spinel was trying to tell me what to do.

I kicked that out  _ fast _ .

The last part knew that whatever was happening? It needed to  _ stop _ happening. I needed  _ out _ . I needed to get back to Mama.

Suddenly, burning erupted throughout my whole body  _ again. _ I kept my eyes open and this time, I could see the void melting past me before I was back in the foggy, swirling mass of evil. With Spinel right there.

I wanted to scream. Just the air brushing past me sent agonizing spears of pain thrusting through me. The clothes on my back felt like a wall of spikes. The floor felt like blades ripping apart my feet, legs,  _ everywhere _ . I could barely stand, the ghastly chill from before not helping things  _ at all _ . I grit my teeth, forcing one eye open to keep watch of Spinel.

The only thing keeping me upright was my  _ refusal _ to lose to humans like her.

“Quite a violent reaction to a pokeball. Is your human DNA rejecting the process…? You went in regardless, so it must work to an extent.” Spinel sounded a mix of curious, confused and annoyed before gripping my head once again. “More damage then.”

She resumed  _ slamming  _ it into the ground, over and over. I could feel her nails dig into my skull with each impact as the inky darkness on the floor began to shatter against my head. Just her hand was  _ phenomenally _ more painful on me than it had been before. The nails and shattered bits of floor only made things worse. She tapped the pokeball on my head once again.

And once again, the burning,  _ searing _ pain engulfed my entire body.

And then  _ again _ as I forced myself out.

This time I  _ did _ collapse on the floor. My refusal to lose to Spinel was still burning strong, it just now was forced to manifest in me not losing consciousness again rather than standing up. I began breathing, rasping for air.

“It broke? An ultra ball then,” Spinel muttered as she went to continue the head bashing.

This time though?

I knew I couldn’t take that  _ and _ stay awake.

I needed  _ something _ between me and her.

I  _ needed _ protection.

Suddenly, a shimmering light erupted from my body in a pulse. It soothed the pain  _ ever _ so slightly, forcing away the dark mass and fog with it. Below me were cool, hard tiles that’d been shattered by my head slamming against them. I could still see Spinel, the fog and the mass everywhere else, but protecting me was a shining green dome of light.

“She learned… Protect? Phenomenal...” Spinel stared at me with genuine surprise before her expression returned to a dangerous calm. “...but pointless.” 

She raised her heel and began stomping on the shield. At first, it shrugged off her attacks like they were nothing. But as she kept going, tiny cracks started to form.

_ I need more time! _

Energy flowed from me into the shield as the cracks fixed themselves. I felt more tired, but the longer I laid there the more the pain began to fade.  _ Agonizingly _ slowly, but fading all the same.

“How is it this strong, her stamina should be at its limit,” Spinel muttered again. The fog around her seemed to intensify, pressing itself against the shield at all sides. Her stomps grew stronger with each strike.

But at the same time? Even though I grew more tired now with each blow, each passing second? The pain was fading. Still  _ agonizing, _ but I managed to stand. I glared at Spinel, then looked at the ground.  _ This isn’t real. There’s gotta be an exit somewhere! _

Right as Spinel was about to stomp down on the shield again, I let it lower. She stumbled for a moment, having expected resistance where there suddenly was none. As much as everything prickled and burned? I planted my feet on the ground and bolted away from her. Now with shattered tile as a landmark.

Even though I  _ felt _ like I should’ve run incredibly far in just a few moments? When I glanced back, I saw the tile wasn’t moving any further away. I was a couple feet away, sure, but even though I was sprinting at full tilt? I wasn’t moving an inch.

_ Okay, running isn’t an option?! _ I whirled around, willing flames to engulf my hands once more.  _ Maybe I can’t get out of this room, but there is an out somewhere! I’m not giving in! Not yet! _

Something grabbed my legs before I went flying through the air. My entire body was slammed against the tile before being hurled back into the air, then slammed back down.

Again and again and again.

When it finally stopped I tried to get up again, but Spinel grabbed my throat and lifted me off my feet.

“Obviously I have not been motivating you enough as it seems you are much more interesting when pressed,” Spinel spoke with thinly veiled anger. She lifted me up higher and began to squeeze. “So now I will  **crush you** .”

Having already been deprived of air, this just made it worse. My vision began to blur even more. The mist almost looked like it was making something, but I couldn’t make it out.

I was exhausted beyond belief, in agonizing pain and about to black out.

So of course, I did what anyone would do.

I stuck my tongue out at her.

She began to squeeze even harder, a wicked grin appeared on her, failing to mask her rage. Yet… her grin just kept getting bigger. I noticed the shadows were beginning to engulf both of us, but I was unsure if it was due to the fog or the choking. I looked again and Spinel’s grin had expanded to an inhuman size. She had begun laughing, but it didn’t sound normal. It echoed throughout the fog and caused my body to shudder. I stared directly into her eyes in defiance, but I noticed something new.

The shadow in her eyes that I had always seen frolic in her golden eyes…  _ it was gone. _

A singular, scarlet red eye appeared above Spinel’s head… or at least… what I thought was Spinel’s head. What I  _ thought  _ was her head had turned into a crooked golden mouth, topped with even larger golden eyes. I heard a bell chime as the crooked mouth opened before her hands and the fog began pulling me into her maw. All I could feel were countless hands trying to rip my body apart from every direction.

All I could hear were shrill screams of unimaginable pain mixed with her neverending psychotic laughter. 

Then nothing. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Entry Log**

_ -I believe in order. I do not enjoy surprises. I do not accept disobedience. Recently I have experienced only chaos, mayhem and fragrant disrespect. I suppose when one works with trash for so long they forget the stench. I have been assaulted by a significant heaping of filth impossible to ignore. _

_ -#033 and Eevee’s battle with Zigzagoon was pitiful. Physically painful to endure. Eevee’s battle prowess is beyond middling, that even a subpar Zigzagoon proved a challenge. Meanwhile #033 is utterly useless in combat. I do not know if it was due to her mourning process being cut short or if it is due to her age, but when given the order to fight for her life, it seems she has no will to do so and zero aptitude. Watching her nearly made me  _ **_ill_ ** _ with rage.  _

_ You do not deserve to be on this planet if you cannot at the bare minimum find the strength to fight for your life. To fight for your self preservation. Her mother died during fusion, her father went insane and now even their daughter proves to be nothing but disappointment. Such powerless, passive creatures are no more worthy than livestock to be slaughtered as even they have the sense to resist. _

_ -Luckily, she managed to scrape some worth. The only merit of wasting time fusing her. Besides #001 she is the only other fusion at the moment who can use her abilities without extreme stress as she used Helping Hand with ease during combat.  _

_ A blood test has showcased that her adaptable Eevee cells have conformed to her human DNA much better than the others allowing her to use her powers with relative ease. Such a waste that she is the only Eeveelution fusion here. _

_ -Jean cannot be trusted. The other grunts are avaricious beasts, but that’s what I need. I do not need them developing sympathies or ‘feelings’ for the subjects. They are to think of them as livestock to be herded and used. Jean was the lone exception as she had enough decency to earn their trust.  _

_ Unfortunately, it seems she’s grown too much of a fondness for them that she would disobey me, so discipline was required. I am sure she will enjoy dethawing Indra with the singular ice heal I gave her and the nearly crushed windpipe she is now sporting courtesy of Juliet.  _

_ Their injuries will heal in time, but my trust is not so easy to regain. If they were anyone else they’d be dead, but she may stay. For now. Another misstep and she may find herself falling into the compound with her ‘beloved’ fusions. _

_ -Gothitelle quite enjoyed watching Rhyperior pummel Ninetales, but somehow even he missed the fact she had survived. Only Cyrus caught that she escaped using Substitute and now he has become insufferable. Reprimanding me like I am a child for going too far with #001 and Ninetales. It was merely discipline! -Apparently the admins have caught too much attention and cannot gather more subjects. Thus we are stuck with the batch we have at present, but now I am sure the younger the subject the better the results. Cyrus says it’d cause too much trouble to catch more children. Bah. Simply make one!  _

_ There are ample male and female grunts who clamor for Cyrus’ attention. If he said consummate in his name, then that is what they shall do. I already know those filthy harlots Mars and Jupiter would jump on Cyrus at the mere mention of copulation with him. Disgusting. If I were a weaker woman I’d be disturbed by his manipulative power over his followers. As I am now? I believe he’s not utilizing them enough. _

_ -Unfortunately I do not have the time or resources to be monitoring pregnant grunts and Cyrus’ theoretical children. The fusion device is still too simplistic to be dealing with fragile embryos and infants. Cyrus is adamant on not acquiring more child subjects, so #001 will have to do… her and Ninetales survival is key to learning as much as we can. Ninetales is an excellent teacher, but a dangerous opponent. Even after recovery she fortunately will not remain such a threat. _

_ -#001 has clearly showcased that she has retained human intelligence. No Vulpix have ever been recorded manipulating fire or ice to the precision she does, much less both at once. The makeshift cluster bomb she developed did more than nothing to Rhyperior, which is far more than any single attack could. Clearly this project shows promise. _

_ -#001’s defiance is maddening. The temptation to inflict a curse on her was overwhelming, but I can only have Juliet do so so many times before the effects begin to wane. At least from her defiance she has proven fusions can learn new moves as she learned Protect right before my eyes. Progress. _

_ -I have also concluded pokeballs do work on fusions, just not as well and it hurts them. When humans are struck by a recall beam from a pokeball all we feel is static, but we do not go inside. From what I have observed fusions endure extreme pain going inside the ball and out. Modified pokeballs will be required for them, but at least it is possible to catch them as proven with #001. _

  
  


**_Damidar 29th_ **

_ -Today’s testing has proven… less informative. Due to #001 still being in critical condition and #033 recovering, none of the others remaining can showcase any use of abilities. As of right now, I only have the data previously gathered and my own theories to entertain my thoughts. Which would not be an issue if the other admins had been intelligent enough to capture more children, progress would not have stagnated. _

_ -Several more blood samples were taken from the other fusions, but it will take time for the results to become clear. Today has been less productive than I had wished. _

_ -Multiple fusions also seem to be upset that #001 and Ninetales have not yet returned to them. #053 in particular was second only to #180 in voicing her displeasure. Their gripes are tiresome, but I’ve appointed Rhodo to deal with their feelings in my stead.. _

  
  


**_Damidar 30th_ **

_ -#001 pushed me more than I anticipated, even I must admit Juliet and I got… overzealous, with her discipline. Cyrus made it clear while I was displeased from the lack of progress due to #001’s recovery time that I have no one but myself to blame. I did not care for the tone he took with me.  _

_ -If he finds my ways unacceptable, then he may orchestrate the next batch of fights. Let us see if he can rein them better than myself. #001 and Ninetales are still recovering within the healing pods, but our doctors surmise they may be suitable to leave soon. _

_ -Gothitelle was most displeased to learn of Ninetales’ continued survival and advocated for her extermination, but was vetoed. At the very least he seems appeased by her absence for now. What a vengeful pokemon I’ve raised. Recommending Rhyperior to be their discipline partner knowing just out of spite. As amusing as that sight was, I ought to reign his future suggestions in. _

_ -Cyrus has also impressed the fact that we cannot simply go out and capture more live specimens, as due to my… impatience, the Scolipede fusion was slain during battle. If they were only more durable and had fused better, this would not be an issue. But quite clearly, it is. _

_ -As much as I do not care for Charon’s inept gibbering, he was right in one regard. The Fusion Chambers are incomplete. Of course he is irate at not being allowed near them; as though I would let the bumbling imbecile anywhere near them. Apparently he attempted to sway Cyrus. Naturally failed, the cur. _ _   
_ _ -Moving on however, clearly the Fusion Chambers are capable of creating higher quality fusions. Due to lack of examples, it was incapable of producing them with older specimens (perhaps due to their bodies being more developed?). Now that we have such examples however, further study can be conducted to result in more thorough fusions regardless of the human’s age. _

  
  


**_Damidar 31st_ **

_ -I do not know whether to be pleased or irritated. Cyrus orchestrated more than just fights, conducting several tests. In addition to the fights he orchestrated showcasing how even the less perfect fusions have enhanced physical capabilities, he also tested several of their type resistances, mental parameters and effects of Pokeballs on them. _

_ -While I was focused on the fusions’ inability to use pokemon abilities, Cyrus postulated that that is due to humans having no such powers innately themselves. Meanwhile with physical capabilities, there is no lack of translation. This became clear as while #006 has been proven to be incapable of producing flame, she was able to keep up with a Pyroar in physical ability. Notably behind the pokemon, but her parameters went far and above what even trained humans are capable of. Even Alters would be hard pressed to match their physical capabilities. _

_ -This could be why none of the fusions have wings; despite it being a physical trait, there is no parallel to it in humans. Meanwhile humans very distinctly have a spine that can simply continue into a tailbone. _

_ -#068 is a member of a long line of exceptional alters as well as being the only successful ghost fusion with Decidueye. She has not caused any notable problems akin to #001, but I shall remain cautious. _

_ -Interestingly, #072’s test has showcased the difference with how they resist pokemon attacks. Despite his imperfect fusion, he was clearly more affected by grass type moves. At the same time, electric type moves had a notably decreased effect on him. Not the immunity that ground types typically sport, but he withstood voltage that would render a human unconscious with manageable issues. Cyrus was thorough and tested this phenomenon with various other fusions. It continues to hold true. Considering #001 was particularly affected by Rhyperior’s onslaught, yet was… less than satisfactorily affected by mine and Juliet’s, this seems to hold true as well. Further testing must be done with her and #033. If she does not want to fight, she can stand there and be a good test dummy. _

_ -After being told that pokeballs were functional on #001, Cyrus took it upon himself to test them on several other fusions. Sneasel rendered them immobile as quickly as ever, though he was clearly upset from the order to not separate them from their limbs. I gave him #043’s heart as a treat as recompense, as I have gathered all I can from it. He was pleased.  _

_ -While the pokeballs were unable to capture any of the other fusions, they were clearly pained by the attempt. This supports the theory that the imperfect fusions have a lower percentage of pokemon DNA, rather than having the same percentage as #001 and traits simply not manifesting. _

_ -Loathe as I am to admit it, Cyrus was distinctly effective in gathering data from the available resources in ways that… had not occurred to me as of yet. His expertise may be in machinery rather than biology, but it is now more clear that he knows how to use what he has to create progress. I may converse with him about the course of action to be taken with the fusions moving forward, as opposed to the exclusive authority I had requested initially. _

_ -The events over the past few days have allowed me ample time to examine myself once again. Juliet’s embrace and power is charming, but I shan’t allow the power to overcome my thought process. Gothitelle’s petty wishes and impulses must not be heeded either besides amusing commentary. I must remain moving forward. Every day I discard the me of yesterday and move on to a more knowledgeable ideal version of myself. That is the vow I have made. _

**_#001_ ** _ Fused Kalolan Vulpix (Aurora) & Kalolan Ninetales (Ivane) Status: Recovering (Critical condition) _

_ #006 Fused Pyroar & Pyroar Status: Recovering _

_ #011 Fused Magcargo & Slugma Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

_ #019 Fused Carnivine & Carnivine Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

**_#020_ ** _ Fused Furret (Guinevere) & Furret (Chestnut) Status: Nominal _

**_#033_ ** _ Fused Eevee (Hazel) & Eevee (Vivian) Status: Recovering _

**_#043_ ** _ Fused Hydreigon (Paul) & Hydreigon (Tobias) Status: Deceased (Unstable, reverted to feral instincts, used for dissection) _

**_#053_ ** _ Fused Flygon (Leanne) & Flygon (Yvonne) Status: Recovering _

**_#068_ ** _ Fused Decidueye (Paris) & Decidueye (Legolas) Status: Nominal _

_ #072 Fused Swampert & Swampert Status: Recovering _

**_#078_ ** _ Fused Phantump (Razin) & Phantump (Urie) Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

_ #079 Fused Glalie & Glalie Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

**_#085_ ** _ Fused Blissey (Mabel) & Blissey (Haley) Status: Nominal _

**_#086_ ** _ Fused Bewear (Benny) & Bewear (Bors) Status: Nominal _

**_#123_ ** _ Fused Female Gallade (Lucia) & Gallade (Arden) Status: Recovering _

**_#132_ ** _ Fused Pachirisu (Ron) & Pachirisu (Rush) Status: Recovering _

**_#134_ ** _ Fused Silvally (Clive) & Silvally (Elpis) Status: Nominal _

_ #143 Fused Electrode & Electrode Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

_ # _ **_147_ ** _ Fused Sunflora (Garland) & Sunflora (Dijon) Status: Drained (lack of sunlight) _

**_#158_ ** _ Fused Rockruff (Koko) Status: Recovering _

**_#159_ ** _ Fused Dusk Lycanroc (Eclipse) & Dusk Lycanroc (Yuna) Status: Recovering _

_ #163 Fused Spiritomb & Spiritomb Status: Deceased (Failed Fused) _

**_#180_ ** _ Fused Samurott (Owain) & Samurott (Sue) Status: Nominal, Regrettably _

**Author’s Note:** And thus are the results of Aurora’s first test she undergoes. Not a great start, all in all. Poor girl deserves a break. Anyway, I hope you… well, enjoyed is a bit much. I hope you enjoy the story this chapter helped to tell, and that it wasn’t too much. And that you come back to read the next one! We’ve gotten to the first big awful event Aurora goes through here, and there’s a limited number of those. Yes, there’s gonna be more events like this. What’d you expect, the awful to stop suddenly? That comes later.


End file.
